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I asked Indian citizen: do I need a Croatia/Bosnia/Montenegro visa if I have a Schengen visa? [duplicate] about entry into Montenegro on the basis of a Schengen visa. One of the answers I received said:

Holders of travel documents containing a valid Schengen visa, a valid visa of the United States of America, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, or a permission to stay in these countries, may enter and stay, or pass through the territory of Montenegro up to 30 days, and not longer than the expiry of visa, if the period of validity of the visa is less than 30 days.

As per my trip across Europe, I will be applying for a Schengen visa with a validity of 34 days since my itinerary goes like this (in the same sequence):

- Milan, Italy                 (4 days)
- Budapest, Hungary            (6 days)
- Dubrovnik, Croatia           (5 days)
- Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina (3 days)
- Kotor, Montenegro            (3 days)
- Brussels, Belgium            (6 days)
- Paris, France                (7 days)

So I only intend to spend three days in Montenegro. Also, by the time I would have reached the entry point of Montenegro, I would have already utilised 10 days out of my validity of 34 days.

Will I get entry into Montenegro (since the paragraph on the visa page specifies that if the period of validity of the visa is less than 30 days)?

I already have my flight out of Montenegro booked to Belgium and hotel accommodation booked. Plus, I am really excited about visiting Kotor so I do not want to give up on the opportunity to visit Montenegro.

Do I need a separate visa or can I go in with a multi-entry Schengen visa with my itinerary?

Also, worst case if I do have to apply for a visa, the embassy for Montenegro is not present in my country (India) and they have said on their website to apply to the "Republic of Serbia" Embassy which is in Delhi. I live in Mumbai. It is not possible for me to go to Delhi just to apply for a Montenegro visa.

Are there alternatives?

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The wording is a bit confusing. Let's modify the punctuation a bit to show more clearly the intended meaning:

Holders of [certain visas] may enter and stay, or pass through the territory of Montenegro up to 30 days (and not longer than the expiry of visa if the period of validity of the visa is less than 30 days).

It simply means that you will be allowed to stay for fewer than 30 days if your Schengen visa expires before the end of the 30-day period. In other words, you must leave within 30 days or before your visa expires, whichever comes first.

Note that this does not actually implicate your 34-day duration of stay allowed by the visa; the period of validity is determined by the expiration date. Days spent in Montenegro do not count toward your 34-day total.

Be careful about counting days. For example, if you travel to Paris on the 1st, and from there to Belgrade on the 5th, and leave Belgrade on the 10th, you will have spent five days in the Schengen area and six days in Serbia. In other words, the travel day counts in both jurisdictions.

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    @pnuts Ack, I meant to type "Belgrade" as a non-Schengen country. Or actually "Schengen" and "Serbia." The point is to avoid a situation where the applicant undercounts the days needed and the consulate issues the visa based on that miscalculation. We've had at least one question about such a situation here in the last few months. So the example was just for illustration, not specific to the OP's itinerary.
    – phoog
    Commented Nov 4, 2016 at 22:24

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