Montes made his senior national team debut as a second-half substitute in a goalless friendly with Peru on 17 April 2013.

[2] He was selected by coach José Manuel de la Torre to participate in the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup held in the United States, and scored his first international goal on his third Mexico appearance, in a 3–1 win over Martinique in the group stage of the Gold Cup on 14 July.

Eventually Montes was called up to be in Mexico's squad for the 2014 World Cup along with teammates, Carlos Peña, José Vázquez, and Rafael Márquez.

On 31 May 2014, in a friendly match against Ecuador two minutes after scoring a long range goal, Montes suffered a double fracture [tibia and fibula] in a challenge with Segundo Castillo.

Due to the injury Montes missed the 2014 FIFA World Cup and did not return to action until 8 February 2015 against UNAM.