Registration of tourists’ stay with the police is responsibility of accommodation providers, not tourists

Podgorica, Montenegro (21 June 2012) – Tourists staying in Montenegro are not required to file any reports regarding their stay in Montenegro or take any other action in this regard, as it is the accommodation providers who are obliged to report the stay of tourists at their accommodation facilities. The media reports saying tourists will have to register their stay in person are incorrect, and the Ministry for Sustainable Development and Tourism and the Police Authority said in a press release.

The legislation related to the Law on Border Control and the Alien Act has not been changed and the regime of crossing the state border does not differ in the least from the procedures that have been applied in previous years, the press release reads. Foreign tourists are not obliged to show any additional documents or paperwork compared to the previous years at the border crossings when leaving Montenegro.

In accordance with the Law on Border Control and several other laws, police officers perform checks at Montenegro’s border crossings, which include verifying the legality of stay of foreigners in the territory of Montenegro. However, these are standard procedures and they do not impose any burden or requirements on the tourists.

All foreign visitors entering Montenegro through border crossings are welcome and the border police will do their best to make the procedures faster and easier, thus making the stay in Montenegro more pleasant, the press release continues.

The media reports wrongly stating that new measures will be imposed on tourists may come from the fact that foreigners coming to Montenegro, as in any other country, are required to report their stay to the police. However, if they are tourists, it is the duty of accommodation providers to report their stay to the police.

The Law on Residency Register says: “A company, an entrepreneur or a person to whom a foreign national with a stay permit of up to 90 days comes to visit and to whom they provide accommodation for longer than 24 hours are obliged to file a report to the police on the check in and check out of the foreign national, within 12 hours following the arrival or departure of the foreign national.”

The control of stay registration is done at all border crossings and applies to all means of transport (plane, car, train, boat, etc.).

In order to avoid congestion at border crossings and reduce the time required for entering Montenegro, police officers can deviate from the regime of border checks and perform it selectively, thus making entering and leaving the country easier.

According to the Law, tourist tax is an amount paid by the guest who uses the services of accommodation in an accommodation facility. The payment of tourist tax is done by the provider of accommodation, who is obliged to disclose the amount of the tax at the accommodation account. The tourist tax is the revenue of the National Tourist Organisation and the collected funds are used to finance the activities of local tourist organisations (80%) and the National Tourist Organisation (20%).

Accommodation providers are required to provide a guest with proof of registration with the police.