The government of Montenegro has issued the first-ever approval of an application for citizenship by investment in the country. The inaugural investor citizens – a family of Egyptian origin – are clients of Arton Capital, one of the program’s three official intermediaries (the other two are Henley & Partners and Apex Capital Partners). Arton Capital was also the first agency to submit an application to the program, on October 3rd last year.
“We were excited to submit the first-ever application under the new program and we are humbled to obtain the first approval for a client of ours as well,” said Armand Arton, Founder and President of Arton Capital, according to a statement on the company’s website.
The same statement indicates processing took 95 days, although it is not clear how this number was calculated since October 3rd was 133 days ago. Presumably, the processing did not commence until some time after the application submission. Now that critical program infrastructure is fully operational, subsequent files will likely take no more than three months from submission to adjudication. Arton Capital also reports that there are “many other applications in the pipeline”.
According to the firm, the applicant qualified through investment in Westin Hotel Kolašin, the first formally approved real estate project. The list of designated developments has since grown to four and program stakeholders have indicated another 7-10 projects are near approval.
Having obtained citizenships in Montenegro, the investor and his family have now more than doubled their travel freedom, from an original 61 visa-free destinations on their Egyptian passports to 134 today, Arton Capital points out.
Want to know more about the Montenegro CIP? To see recent articles, official links, FAQs, and more, visit its Program Page. To see which firms can assist with applications to the program, visit the Residence & Citizenship by Investment Company Directory.
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