Labour shortages and slow administrative procedures for issuing foreign work and residency permits are seriously threatening Montenegro’s upcoming tourism season. During a roundtable organised by the Montenegrin Employers Federation and the Ministry of the Interior, business owners warned that system inefficiencies directly harm the hospitality, tourism, and construction sectors ahead of the summer rush.
Employers demanded that the application process be accelerated to a maximum of seven days. They criticised inconsistent administrative practices across different ministry branches and noted that businesses are frequently forced to submit paperwork that state authorities already possess in electronic databases.
To resolve these bottlenecks, participants called for better inter-institutional coordination and swift digitalisation, including online application tracking and the acceptance of digital signatures and QR-verified documents. Streamlining these procedures would enable faster legal hiring, reduce the grey economy, and boost state tax revenues.