Live in Lithuania

Before coming to Lithuania, please make sure that your documents issued in your country of origin or elsewhere are valid in Lithuania. They must be legalized or certified with Apostille. If you intend to reside permanently in Lithuania and want to obtain citizenship of the country, check out the conditions governing its acquisition. Citizenship matters are regulated by the Law on the Citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania.

If you are a citizen of a European Union member state, you are entitled to stay in Lithuania up to three months over a period of half a year. The period is calculated from the first day of your arrival to our country.

Non-European Union nationals willing to live in Lithuania must obtain a permit, enabling to reside in our country on temporary or permanent basis.

Make sure that your social security guarantees follow you as you move to Lithuania. A smooth process is ensured by social security coordination regulations.

 

Foreign Documents Validity

Documents executed abroad that are to be used in the Republic of Lithuania, must be legalised or appostilled, which proves their authenticity.

Documents issued in a State, which is a party to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, and which have been apostilled by competent authorities of the Issuing State, are entitled to recognition in the Republic of Lithuania without any further authentication.

Documents issued in a State, which is not a party to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, must first be legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Diplomatic Mission or Consular Office of the Issuing State. Before submitting these documents for use in the Republic of Lithuania, they must be also legalised by the Consular Department of the Republic of Lithuania or the Diplomatic Mission or Consular Office of the Republic of Lithuania.

 

Citizenship

If you permanently reside in Lithuania and wish to obtain or restore the Republic of Lithuania citizenship, you should submit an application accompanied by the required documents to a Migration Service.

If you permanently reside abroad and wish to obtain or restore the Republic of Lithuania citizenship, you should submit an application accompanied by the required documents to the Migration Department under the Ministry of the Interior (1 Sapiegos str., Vilnius) or the Lithuanian diplomatic missions, consular posts abroad.

What is citizenship and who can acquire, restore and reinstate their citizenship is defined in the Law on Citizenship. The Law also specifies in what cases children under 18 years of age are recognized to be citizens of the Republic of Lithuania, what persons and in what cases are considered to be of Lithuanian descent, who has the indefinite right to restore their Republic of Lithuania citizenship and adopt a Lithuanian descent or the indefinite right to restore the certificates confirming the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania.

 

Live in Lithuania: EU citizens

A foreign national who is a citizen of one of the Member States of the European Union (hereafter – ‘the EU citizen’) may arrive at the Republic of Lithuania and stay for up to 3 months from the first day of entry to the Republic of Lithuania. Citizens of the countries of the European Free Trade Association are treated under the same provisions as the EU citizens.

Temporary residence of EU citizens in the Republic of Lithuania

EU citizens and their family members, or other persons who are entitled to free movement under the European Union legislation (hereinafter, ‘other person’), who arrive to the Republic of Lithuania for a period of stay exceeding 3 months in half a year, and who are entitled to the right of temporary residence in the Republic of Lithuania, are issued with a certificate of the format approved by the Minister of the Interior to confirm their right of temporary residence in the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter, ‘the certificate’). The certificate is valid for 5 years from the decision to issue the certificate, or for the period intended to reside by the EU citizen in the Republic of Lithuania, where the period is shorter than 5 years.

EU citizens are entitled to a temporary residence in the Republic of Lithuania, where they:

• are employed or self-employed;
• dispose of sufficient resources to live in the Republic of Lithuania for themselves and their family members, where they arrive together or join them, and hold a valid certificate of health insurance;
• have been admitted to an education establishment under general education programme or vocational programme(s), to study in an education and science institution under study programme(s), or for a doctorate degree, invited for a traineeship or to improve qualifications, and dispose of sufficient resources to live in the Republic of Lithuania for themselves and their family members, where they arrive together or join them, and hold a valid certificate of health insurance;
• are family members of an EU citizen who has a right of residence in the Republic of Lithuania, or other person (i. e. a person who is not a family member of the EU citizen but a cohabiting partner, with whom the EU citizen maintains regular relations for the last 3 years, which can be properly justified by documents, as well as a person dependant on the EU citizen, or who manages a common household with the EU citizen, or who is in need of personal care by the EU citizen for serious health reasons, where that may be properly justified by documents) arriving with them or joining them.

Non-EU family member of the EU citizen or other person (i. e. a person who is not a family member of the EU citizen but a cohabitant, with whom the EU citizen maintains regular relations for the last 3 years, which can be properly justified by documents, as well as a person dependant on the EU citizen, or who manages a common household with the EU citizen, or who is in need of personal care by the EU citizen for serious health reasons, where that may be properly justified by documents), who is not a EU citizen arriving to the Republic of Lithuania for a period of stay with the EU citizen or joining them for longer than 3 months within half a year, has the right to obtain a temporary residence card of a family member of the EU citizen (hereinafter, ‘the card’). The card shall be issued to a family member of the EU citizen entitled to temporary residence in the Republic of Lithuania, or to other person, or to a family member of the citizen of the Republic of Lithuania, who has made use of their right of free movement of persons, or to other person arriving to reside in the Republic of Lithuania.

The card grants the family member of the EU citizen or other person, who is not an EU citizen, the right of temporary residence in the Republic of Lithuania. This document shall be issued and replaced for a period of 5 years, or for the period intended to reside in the Republic of Lithuania, where the period is shorter than 5 years.

Documents related to issuing/replacement of the certificate and the card shall be presented to the migration service under the territorial police unit (hereinafter, ‘Migration Office’), in the  territory of which a foreign national intends to declare their place of residence.

An application of the EU citizen to issue or replace the certificate shall be processed and a decision shall be made within 10 working days from the date of submission of the application to the Migration Office. The EU citizens shall declare their place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania upon obtaining the issued certificate at the Migration Office.

An application of a family member or other person for issuing/replacement of the card shall be processed and a decision shall be made no later than one month from the date of submission of the application to the Migration Office. Family member of the EU citizen or other person shall declare their place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania upon obtaining the issued card at the Migration Office.

 

Live in Lithuania: non-EU nationals

Foreign nationals, who are not EU citizens or their family members, or other persons who are entitled to free movement under the European Union legislation, shall be issued with the following permits to reside in the Republic of Lithuania:

• A permit of temporary residence in the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter, ‘a temporary residence permit’);
• A permit, issued to a long-term resident in the Republic of Lithuania, to reside in the European Union (hereinafter, ‘a permanent residence permit’).   

A temporary residence permit shall grant a foreign national a right to temporary reside in the Republic of Lithuania for a period specified therein. A residence permit shall give a right for a foreign national to reside in the Republic of Lithuania, to choose a place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania, to change it, to leave the Republic of Lithuania and to return during the period of validity of the residence permit. A temporary residence permit shall be usually issued for a period of one year, but it can be issued for a longer or shorter period. A temporary residence permit shall be valid for a period of five years to persons of Lithuanian origin and foreign nationals, who are entitled to restoration of nationality of the Republic of Lithuania.

A temporary residence permit can be issued or replaced to a foreign national, where:

• a foreign national is entitled to restoration of nationality of the Republic of Lithuania;
• a foreign national is a person of Lithuanian origin;
• a foreign national had a family reunification;
• a foreign national intends to work;
• a foreign national intends to have a job requiring high professional skills;
• a foreign national is and plans to continue to be engaged in lawful activities;
• a foreign national intends to study;
• a foreign national has been granted guardianship (custody), or they have been appointed as guardian (carer);  
• a foreign national has been or is a victim of human trafficking or illegal work, and is in cooperation with a judicial institution or a court in fighting human trafficking or crime related to human trafficking or illegal work, where a foreign national has worked under conditions of brutal exploitation, or where they have engaged in child labour;
• a foreign national intends to work under a contract drawn with a science and study institution registered in the Republic of Lithuania as a lecturer, to carry out scientific research and/or engage in (social, cultural) development as a researcher;
• a foreign national has acquired a status of a long-term resident at another European Union Member State and has a residence permit issued by that state.

A temporary residence permit may also be issued to a foreign national, where they have been granted a temporary or subsidiary protection, where they are unable to depart due to a dangerous health condition and require urgent basic medical aid, and where a foreign national cannot be returned to a foreign country or expelled from the Republic of Lithuania.

A foreign national shall submit an application for the issue of their first temporary residence permit, alongside other documents, to a diplomatic mission or consular post of the Republic of Lithuania abroad; a foreign national who is a lawful resident of the Republic of Lithuania, shall submit an application to a Migration Service under a territorial police unit (hereinafter, ‘the Migration Service’), in the territory of which a foreign national intends to reside. However, submission of an application does not grant a foreign national the right to stay in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania until the application for a temporary residence is processed and a decision is made. A foreign national shall submit an application to replace (issue a new) temporary residence permit to the Migration Service, in the territory of which the foreign national lives.

An application by a foreign national for a temporary residence permit shall be processed within 4 months from the date of submission of the application to the appropriate institution, and within 2 months from the date of submission of an application to the appropriate institution by a foreign national who intends to have a job requiring high professional skills. An application by a foreign national for a temporary residence permit shall be processed within 1 month from the date of submission of the application to the appropriate institution, where a foreign national intends to have a job requiring high professional skills and submits a commitment by an employer to employ the foreign national under an employment contract and to pay a monthly salary that shall be at least 3 times the average gross annual salary of Lithuania’s employees, as most recently published by Statistics Lithuania.  

An application by a foreign national to replace (i. e. to issue a new) temporary residence permit shall be processed within 2 months from the date of submission of the application (a foreign national must apply for this permit at least 2 months prior to the date of expiration of validity of their current residence permit, but no earlier than 4 months prior to the date of expiration of validity of the current residence permit). It should be noted that an application by a foreign national to issue or replace a temporary residence permit may be processed under the urgency procedure as well. Where an application by a foreign national to issue or replace a temporary residence permit is processed under the urgency procedure, the aforementioned periods shall be halved.

Where Migration Department under the Ministry of the Interior, or a Migration Office, to which an application to replace (i. e. to issue a new) temporary residence permit has been submitted, makes a decision to issue (replace) the permit, the foreign national shall receive a notification hereof, and will have to apply for the execution of the permit to the Migration Office in the territory of which they reside or intend to reside. This decision does not grant a foreign national the right to stay in the Republic of Lithuania without a visa, or to exceed the period of a visa-free stay. A foreign national must lawfully stay in the Republic of Lithuania at the time they submit documentation for execution of a temporary residence permit.

A decision to issue (replace) a temporary residence permit for a foreign national lapses, where the foreign national does not make use of it within 3 months from the date it is made.

 

Export of social security benefits

Free movement of people is one of the fundamental freedoms in the European Union. If due to some reason you decide to change your place of residence, you have the right to social protection. Every state enjoys highly diverse social security systems, therefore the EU regulations for the coordination of social security systems are applied to ensure its smooth functioning. Nevertheless, these regulations do not seek harmonisation of diverse social security systems. The main objective is to ensure the coordination of social security systems in order to remove any barriers hindering the free movement of people and to ensure social security for migrants. 
 
Regulations for the coordination of social security systems apply to all the citizens of the European Union and their family members, regardless of their employment status.
 
Regulations that are currently in force are based on the following four principles:

• non-discrimination on the grounds of nationality;
• a person is covered by social insurance only in one member state;
• insurance periods gained in different member states are aggregated;
• social security benefits may be exported.

Regulations cover all major social security benefits:

• sickness, maternity and paternity benefits;
• invalidity (incapacity for work);
• retirement and pre-retirement benefits;
• survivor’s pension;
• benefits for accidents at work and occupational diseases;
• death grants;
• family benefits;
• unemployment benefits.