Anyone aged 15 to 67 who is not in employment can register with the Employment Agency of Montenegro (Zavod za zapošljavanje), and since the 2025 amendments registration works in person or electronically, on the Moj zavod portal. Registering is a right, not a duty, but it brings duties: an individual employment plan within 45 days, a personal visit to the Agency at least once every 60 days and reporting any change within eight days. Anyone who does not meet these duties is removed from the register and cannot register again for three months.
This guide explains who can register, what to bring, how online registration works, what your duties are and when you are removed from the register.
Who can register with the Employment Agency?
| Register | Who registers | Reporting to the Agency |
| Unemployed persons | people aged 15 to 67 who are not in employment and are able or partly able to work | in person at least once every 60 days and at every call |
| Other job seekers | people not counted as unemployed, for example employees or students, who want advice or a job | at least once every four months |
- A sole trader, the sole owner or owner of more than 51% of a company, an insured farmer, a pensioner, a full-time pupil or an undergraduate student does not count as unemployed.
- A foreigner registers as unemployed with a permanent residence permit, temporary residence for family reunification with a Montenegrin citizen or a foreigner with permanent residence, temporary residence on humanitarian grounds or as a stateless person, refugee status or other international protection, or after more than nine months of seeking international protection.
- EU citizens will be treated like Montenegrin citizens only from Montenegro's accession to the European Union, so until then they too can register only with one of these permits.
What should you bring?
- Your ID card, your work booklet if you have one and the document showing your level of education.
- The decision recognising a foreign diploma, if you finished school abroad.
- Proof of residence, if you have changed it.
- A foreigner also brings a passport or foreigner's ID card and the residence permit.
You register with the Agency's regional office for your place of residence, and if your employment has ended, you can also use the office where your employer has its seat. If you change your place of residence, you register with the Agency in the new place within 30 days.
How do you register online on the Moj zavod portal?
- Create an account on the Moj zavod portal; an individual only fills in the requested details at first registration, with no electronic certificate.
- Choose registration in the register of unemployed persons or in the register of other job seekers.
- On the same portal you see your record, scheduled reporting dates and job vacancies, and you can request certificates from the register.
- When you register for the first time, the Agency opens an electronic personal record and schedules a group and an individual interview.
- The 2025 amendments expressly allow registration in person or electronically, and the Agency calls you in writing, by phone or electronically.
What are your duties after registering?
- Actively look for work and be available for work.
- Within 45 days of registering, agree an individual employment plan with an Agency adviser and carry it out.
- Respond to every call from the Agency, and come in person at least once every 60 days; before the 2025 amendments this period was 45 days.
- Take part in employment programmes and accept a job that is offered.
- Report any change that affects your rights or duties within eight days.
The Agency's services are free for unemployed persons and other job seekers, and in job matching an unemployed person has priority over other job seekers.
What does registration give you?
- The right to unemployment benefit, if you meet the conditions.
- Cash assistance and travel costs during training and other employment programmes.
- One-off assistance and travel and moving costs, if you take a permanent job outside your place of residence.
- A certificate of facts from the register, which you request in person or electronically.
When are you removed from the register?
| Reason | Consequence |
| You take a job, register as a sole trader, become owner of more than 51% of a company or an insured farmer | removal from the register |
| You receive a pension, turn 67, become a full-time pupil or an undergraduate student | removal from the register |
| You do not actively look for work, are not available, refuse a programme or an offered job, give false information or the labour inspectorate finds that you work in breach of the rules | removal and a three-month ban on registering again |
- You can deregister yourself at any time.
- The Agency removes other job seekers who do not report for four months after their last registration.
- You can appeal the Agency's decision to refuse registration or to remove you to the Ministry, but an appeal does not stop the decision from taking effect.
How much unemployment benefit is and who is entitled to it is covered in our guide to unemployment benefit, and where jobs are advertised and what they pay in our guide to finding a job in Montenegro. Notice periods and severance pay are covered in our guide to employment termination, and the activation plan with the Agency for people on social assistance in our guide to social assistance. The conditions for a permanent residence permit for foreigners are explained by RoNa Legal.
Frequently asked questions
How do you register with the Employment Agency in Montenegro? In person at the Employment Agency's regional office for your place of residence, or electronically on the Moj zavod portal, with your ID card and proof of education.
Can you register with the Employment Agency online? Yes. Since the 2025 amendments registration also works electronically, on the Moj zavod portal, where an individual creates an account without an electronic certificate.
How often do you have to report to the Employment Agency? An unemployed person comes in person at least once every 60 days and at every call from the Agency, and other job seekers report at least once every four months.
Can a student register with the Employment Agency? An undergraduate student does not count as unemployed, but can register as another job seeker, for advice and job matching.
Can a foreigner register with the Employment Agency? Yes, with a permanent residence permit, temporary residence for family reunification or on humanitarian grounds, refugee status or other international protection.
When can you register again after being removed? If you were removed because you did not look for work, were not available, refused a programme or a job or gave false information, only after three months.
Sources
Who counts as unemployed, the duties, the individual plan, reporting and removal from the register are set by the Law on Employment Mediation and Rights during Unemployment, Official Gazette 24/2019 (Articles 5 to 12, 15, 21, 23, 64 to 67 and 71), with the 2025 amendments, Official Gazette 29/2025 (Articles 1, 2 and 23 to 26), and equal treatment of EU citizens from accession by the amendments in Official Gazette 3/2026. The required documents and where to register are published by the Employment Agency in its general information for unemployed persons, the Moj zavod portal services on its online services page, and rights and duties on its page on the rights and duties of unemployed persons. The information was checked on 27 September 2026. Fijaka is a classifieds platform; this text is not legal advice.