If you are an EU citizen, a citizen of a member state of the European Free Trade Association, or a family member of an EU citizen or other person exercising EU law on free movement, coming to the Republic of Lithuania together or with an EU citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania who has exercised the right of free movement within the EU, You can stay in the Republic of Lithuania for up to 3 months from the first day of the arrival.

A citizen of an EU Member State is a foreigner holding the nationality of one of the EU Member States.

The member countries of the European Free Trade Association are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Family members of a citizen of an EU Member State are a spouse or a person with whom a registered partnership agreement is concluded, direct descendants under the age of or who are dependents, including the direct descendants of a spouse or a person with whom a registered partnership agreement is concluded, under the age of 21 or who are dependents, dependent relatives in the direct ascending line of a citizen, of a spouse or a person of an EU Member State with whom a registered partnership agreement is concluded.

The direct ascendant line is the line from the offspring to the ancestor (grandchildren, children, parents, grandparents, etc.).

Another person exercising the right of free movement under EU law is a person who is not a family member of a citizen of an EU Member State but is a partner with whom an EU Member State citizen has been in regular contact for the last 3 years, as well as an EU citizen or a household with EU citizen or who, for the serious health reasons, requires personal care of an EU citizen.

A citizen of the Republic of Lithuania who has exercised the right of free movement of persons within the EU is considered to be an EU citizen. In order to be considered to have exercised the right of free movement of persons, a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania must have resided in another EU Member State for a period after the 1 May 2004.

When applying for a certificate or card, the application shall be accompanied by the original or a copy of the relevant documents, the authenticity of which must be certified by a person or authority that has the right to authenticate copies of documents (e.g. a notary). If the application is accompanied by documents issued by foreign authorities other than travel documents, or photocopies thereof certified by a person or authority entitled to certify the authenticity of such documents, such documents must be certified by an Apostille or legalized and translated into Lithuanian (the translation must be certified by a person or body authorized to translate a language from one language to another, e.g. certified by a translation agency stamp). Exceptions: an Apostille is not required for documents issued in Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine, as well as documents issued by diplomatic missions or consular posts of other countries accredited to Lithuania.

The Apostille is the legalization of a document by affirming the authenticity of the stamps on the documents and the signatory’s position. Both the original and the notarised copy of the original can be affirmed by the Apostille. The documents with the Apostille are valid in all States which acceded to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 on the Abolition of Legalization of Foreign Documents.

Documents issued in the states which do not affirm documents by the Apostille need to be legalised.

If you are an EU citizen and have come to the Republic of Lithuania for more than 3 months in half a year, you may be issued with a certificate confirming your right to temporary residence in the Republic of Lithuania.

If you are an EU citizen, you can come to the Republic of Lithuania to work as an employed or self-employed person or to live as a person retaining such status.

Self-employed persons are owners of sole proprietorships; members of small associations; full members of partnerships and limited partnerships; persons engaged in self-employed activities (lawyers, assistants to lawyers, notaries, bailiffs, business license holders and others); natural persons engaged in individual agricultural activity, when the economic size of the agricultural holding or farm according to the calculations made by the State Enterprise Agricultural Information and Rural Business Centre for the tax period from 1 January to 31 December of the previous year is equal to or greater than 4 economic size units; household members as defined in the Law on Households of the Republic of Lithuania; individuals who receive income from copyright contracts or from sports or artist activity.

You can maintain your status as an employee or self-employed person when:

• Your employment contract has been terminated (has expired) or activity and You are temporarily out of work due to an illness or accident;
• You have terminated Your contract of employment or activity for at least one year due to circumstances beyond Your control and registered with the Employment Service as unemployed;
• if You have been on a fixed-term contract for less than one year or have terminated Your employment or activity for the first 12 months due to circumstances beyond Your control and registered with the Employment Service as unemployed (in such a case you remain in that status for 6 months);
• when You have terminated Your employment (it has expired) or activity, have registered with the Employment Service as unemployed and have started a vocational training (if Your employment contract has been terminated (it has expired) due to circumstances that are dependent on You, You must study the profession relevant to the job you were holding).

What document must I obtain?

You must obtain a certificate of temporary residence in the Republic of Lithuania and declare your place of residence.

Who can apply for a certificate and how?

You must submit your application and documents for obtaining a certificate in person through the Lithuanian Migration Information System (hereinafter referred to as “MIGRIS”). Within 4 months of the date of submission of the application and documents through MIGRIS, you must personally visit the Migration Department of your choice and submit the original documents, biometric data and sign the application.

What documents and where must I submit to obtain my certificate?

You must submit:

1. the valid travel document;

2. documents certifying the basis of issue of the certificate if You are an employee or self-employed person:

• a letter from a company, institution or organization sending to Lithuania confirming Your legal employment in Lithuania; or
• other documents proving Your lawful activity in Lithuania

3. documents certifying that you are the holder of a certificate, provided you retain your status as an employed or self-employed person:

• documents confirming that you have stopped working and a document stating that you are temporarily absent from work due to illness or accident; or
• documents proving that you have terminated your employment or activity for at least one year due to circumstances beyond your control; or
• documents confirming that you have terminated your employment contract (it has expired) or activities due to circumstances beyond your control, and that you have started a vocational training; or
• documents proving that your contract of employment has been terminated (it has expired) due to circumstances that are dependent on you, and a document confirming that you have started a profession related to the job you had.

You must apply to the Migration Department of your choice for submission of the originals and biometric data and for signing the application.

You must pay a state fee of EUR 8.60 (code 5740) for the issuance of the certificate.

You can also submit a bank transfer payment order of the state fee paid with a bank marking or receipt for a paid state fee with your application.

Please note: if another person has paid the state fee, you must provide an expanded form of payment order with your full name and personal identification number or date of birth, with a bank marking.

The certificate is issued not later than one month after the date of submission of the application.

You can retrieve the certificate issued at the branch of the Migration Department to which you have applied. You can do this yourself or your authorized person, by presenting a power of attorney certified by a notary public or an equivalent document and an identity document.

Notarized equivalents:

1. the powers of the soldiers approved by the commanders (commandants) of military units, teams, military establishments and schools;

2. the powers of persons in custody, as approved by the prison authorities;

3. persons‘ on long-distance seagoing vessels flying the flag of the State of Lithuania approved by the captains of those vessels.

Do the added documents have to be translated into Lithuanian?

Documents issued abroad accompanying the application must be translated into Lithuanian and certified by a person or institution having the right to testify the translation from one language to another. Where the application is accompanied by a marriage contract, divorce, sponsor’s death, birth certificate, health insurance, these documents may be in the original English language or a translation into English of the document in another language may be provided, certified by the translator of a person or body having the right to testify the translation from one language to another. At the request of an authorized department employee, the foreigner must provide translations of these documents into Lithuanian, certified by a signature of the person or institution that has the right to testify the translation from one language to another.

Do the added documents need to be legalized or certified by an Apostille?

Documents issued by foreign states must be legalized or certified by an Apostille in accordance with the procedure established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, unless the document does not have to be legalized or certified by an Apostille in accordance with the international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania or the legal acts of the European Union.

For how long is the certificate issued?

The certificate is issued for 5 years or for the intended period of your residence in the Republic of Lithuania if this period is less than 5 years.

Do I have to obtain a work permit in the Republic of Lithuania?

Citizens of an EU Member State intending to work in the Republic of Lithuania do not need to obtain a work permit.

How can I declare my place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania?

You can submit your declaration of residence:

• to the branch of the Migration Department, when withdrawing the certificate; or
• directly to the place of residence declaration, that is to say, the eldership according to the place of residence or another municipal unit entrusted with these functions.

More about declaring a place of residence can be found on the website of the State Enterprise Centre of Registers http://info.registrucentras.lt/.

• Declaration of residence is obligatory within 15 working days after acquisition of the right to reside in the Republic of Lithuania.