Montenegrin passport

Montenegrin passport

Contemporary biometric Montenegrin passport front cover

Identity page of the Montenegrin passport
Date first issued 5 May 2008
Issued by  Montenegro
Type of document Passport
Purpose Identification
Eligibility requirements Montenegrin citizenship
Cost €40[1]

The Montenegrin passport (Montenegrin: pasoš / пасош) is the primary document of international travel issued by Montenegro.

The passport is issued by the Ministry of Interior or, if the citizen resides abroad, at the embassy. Besides serving as proof of identity and of citizenship, they facilitate the process of securing assistance from Montenegrin consular officials abroad, if needed. Citizens can not have multiple passports at the same time, unless they are of different category.

History

The first passports issued in Montenegro are from the 18th century, by Prince-Bishop Vasilije III Petrović-Njegoš.

After Vasilije ethnicity was never a part of Montenegrin passports again. During the reign of Prince-Bishop Petar I Petrović-Njegoš, a special document known as "Passport" (Serbian: Пашепорт) was granted to the citizens who wanted extraordinarily to visit foreign countries.

During the reign of Prince-Bishop Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, he was granting a special Montenegrin Bill of Passage. From then on, next to every user of the bill and subsequent passports, "Montenegrin" was added, relating to the country of his or her birth. It also introduced the notification from which clan is the individual. Later, Njegos formally instituted as the official name "Montenegrin Passport".[2] A component part of it was the Seal of the Cetinje Metropolitanate's Righteous Soviet, a bicephalic white eagle with spread out wings, an Eastern Orthodox cross between his heads and a passing lion beneath it, altogether on red background.

With the secularization of Montenegro as a formal Princedom under Prince Danilo I Petrovic-Njegos, religious affiliation and even physical description of the passport holder were introduced as of the mid 19th century, in attempt to prevent fraud.[3] The Seal was replaced with Danil's Coat of Arms, the lion was moved onto a red shield on the eagle's chest, while an Imperial crown was added .

Passport issued in Montenegro in 1887 (prior to the advent of photography, passports had a description of the bearer) (left) and the front cover of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia passport (right).

The passports issued by Nikola I Petrovic-Njegos were significantly changed in appearance, also losing any reference to nationality.[4] The same were the unrecognized passports published by the Montenegrin Government in Exile in 1919, after the country's annexation by Serbia.

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, passports were issued in order with the "Law on Travel Documents of Yugoslav Nationals" which came into force on 26 July 1996, although the country came into existence in 1992. They were navy blue in color and have two inscriptions in golden letters - Савезна Република Југославија (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) at the top and the word passport written in three languages: Serbian (Cyrillic script), English and French at the bottom divided by the coat of arms. Following the restructuring of the FRY into the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003, passports with the new name were not issued due to the expected breakup of the union, which eventually happened in 2006.

Following Montenegro's independence, citizens of Montenegro used the same travel document as Serbia until 2008, the only difference being in issuing authority, in this case the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro.

On 30 November 2006, the Government adopted the Memorandum of Agreement between the Republic of Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia on Consular Protection and Services to the Citizens of Montenegro. By this agreement, Serbia, through its network of diplomatic and consular missions, provides consular services to the Montenegrin citizens on the territory of states in which Montenegro has no missions of its own.

On 1 January 2010, the Government officially invalidated all non-biometric Montenegrin passports, even if the expiry date was beyond 1 January 2010. Because non-biometric Montenegrin passports were no longer considered valid travel documents from that date onwards, holders were obliged to apply for new biometric Montenegrin passports in order to travel.[5]

Appearance

Design

The current passports are burgundy red with the Montenegrin coat of arms. The data page is printed in Montenegrin, English and French. Unlike the passports issued through history of Montenegro, which used both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets, the current Montenegrin passport uses the Latin alphabet exclusively.

Identity information page

The passport includes the following data:

The information page ends with the Machine Readable Zone and the identity page also contains the RFID chip.

Languages

The data page is printed in Montenegrin, English and French, while the personal data is entered in Montenegrin.

Types

Passports that can be issued are:

  • Valid for 10 years
  • Valid for a single trip abroad.
  • Though it is not primary means of international travel for organised groups, it is often used to facilitate the issuance of visas, or to decrease administrative costs if a lot of group members do not have their individual passports. Main users of these passports are high schools and tourist agencies.
  • Collective passport can be used for travel only to specific, usually nearby, countries. Some countries that do not accept collective passport as valid travel ID, do issue collective visas, but still stamp individual passports.
  • All members of the group must cross the border at the same time and be part of the same organized trip.
  • Validity is determined by the nature of the position held - diplomats and officials will usually receive the passport covering their mandate in office.

Visa requirement for Montenegrin citizens

Visa-free travel for Montenegrin citizens:
  Montenegro
  Visa Free Travel
  Visa on arrival
  Electronic visa application
  Visa required

In 2015, Montenegrin citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 104 countries and territories, ranking the Montenegrin passport 48th in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Postupak i potrebni dokazi za izdavanje ličnih dokumenata -PASOS
  2. ↑ http://www.njegos.org/passports/pasos1.jpg
  3. ↑ http://www.njegos.org/passports/pasos3.jpg
  4. ↑ http://www.njegos.org/passports/pasos4.jpg
  5. ↑ INVALIDATED PASSPORTS, EFFECTIVE 1 JANUARY 2010
  6. ↑ "Global Ranking - Visa Restriction Index 2015" (PDF). Henley & Partners. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
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