Moving to Lithuania

Law on the Legal Status of Aliens (No. IX-2206), Art. 44. Your employer submits an undertaking to employ you full time for at least 6 months and to pay no less than a comparable Lithuanian, EU/EFTA or permanently resident worker at the same employer earns, or, where there is none, the latest published average monthly gross wage for the employer's sector of economic activity, and never less than that sector average where it is above the national average (Art. 62(5)). You must also either hold a qualification related to the job or have at least 1 year of related work experience in the last 3 years, confirmed by the employer, or the employer must undertake to pay at least the latest published national average monthly gross wage (Art. 44(1)(2)(b)); people who studied in Lithuania and apply within 5 years of finishing are exempt from this condition (Art. 44(3)). The employer must itself have carried on the activity for at least the last 6 months (Art. 44(12)). These permits are capped by an annual quota set by the Minister of Social Security and Labour, at most 1.4% of the resident population (Art. 57¹); once it is used up, a permit is issued only where the salary is at least 1.2 times the national average, or at least the national average for an occupation on the official shortage list of high value-added occupations (Art. 44(5)). The permit covers the period of work, up to 2 years, and you may start work only once it is issued (Art. 44(6)). The Migration Department must decide within 3 months, halved on the expedited procedure (Arts. 33, 34¹). Family members normally join only after you have lived in Lithuania for 2 years (Art. 43(6)). Permanent residence after 5 years' continuous lawful residence, with the Lithuanian language and Constitution exams (Art. 53); naturalisation after 10 years' lawful permanent residence, holding the right of permanent residence and renouncing any other citizenship (Law on Citizenship, Art. 18). Not confirmed in the archived law, so check with the Migration Department: the national average wage figure used here (EUR 2,411.40), the 2026 quota (reported as 24,706) and the state fees (reported as EUR 160, or EUR 320 expedited).

Law on the Legal Status of Aliens (No. IX-2206), Art. 44¹. Your employer undertakes to employ you in highly qualified work for at least 6 months and to pay at least 1.5 times the latest published national average monthly gross wage, or 1.2 times for an occupation on the official shortage list of high value-added occupations. For a regulated profession you show that you meet the Lithuanian requirements; otherwise the employer describes your high professional qualification, and the Government sets how professional experience is recognised as equivalent to higher education (Art. 44¹(3)). The annual quota does not apply (Arts. 44(2), 57¹). The permit is issued for 3 years, or for the contract period plus 3 months if the contract is shorter (Art. 44¹(4)). If you are lawfully in Lithuania you may start work from the day you apply (Art. 44¹(2)). In the first 12 months a change of employer needs the Migration Department's permission, decided within 14 days; after 12 months you may change employer without asking (Art. 44¹(5)). Decision within 1 month, halved on the expedited procedure (Arts. 33, 34¹). Family members may join without the 2-year waiting period that applies to most sponsors (Art. 43(6)). Permanent residence after 5 years' continuous lawful residence, or after 5 years in the EU of which at least the last 2 in Lithuania on a Blue Card (Art. 53(1)(8¹)), with the language and Constitution exams; naturalisation after 10 years (Law on Citizenship, Art. 18). Not confirmed in the archived law: the euro figures (about EUR 3,617 and EUR 2,894 a month at the reported average wage), the diploma-or-experience detail (reported as a higher-education diploma, or 5 years' equivalent experience, or for ICT roles 3 years in the last 7) and the state fees (reported as EUR 160, or EUR 320 expedited).

Law on the Legal Status of Aliens (No. IX-2206), Art. 45¹. The institution authorised by the Minister of the Economy and Innovation must confirm in writing that you have shown you are developing a startup you intend to run in Lithuania, that you have the qualifications, financing and business plan for it, and that your presence in Lithuania is necessary for it; a startup may have at most 4 foreign participants. The confirmation does not itself grant status: the Migration Department decides, within 1 month, halved on the expedited procedure (Arts. 33, 34¹). Within 120 days of the permit being issued you must establish the startup and begin its registered activity; a co-founder joining one already established must become a participant within 60 days (Art. 45¹(3)). The permit is issued for 2 years and, on a renewed confirmation, may be changed for 3 years (Art. 45¹(4)). General conditions (Arts. 6¹, 26, 27): health insurance covering emergency care and repatriation where you are not covered by compulsory insurance, sufficient means of subsistence in the amount set by the Minister of Social Security and Labour, and a written undertaking to declare your residence in housing with at least 7 m2 per adult. Family members may join without the 2-year waiting period (Art. 43(6)) and receive permits for the same period as yours (Art. 43(5)). Counts toward permanent residence at 5 years (Art. 53) and naturalisation at 10 (Law on Citizenship, Art. 18). Not confirmed in the archived law: that Startup Lithuania runs the assessment and that applying through it is free, the subsistence figure used here (the national minimum monthly wage, EUR 1,153 in 2026), a health-insurance minimum of EUR 30,000, the state fees (reported as EUR 160, or EUR 320 expedited), and the reported exclusion of Russian and Belarusian nationals except through Ministry of Foreign Affairs mediation, which is not in the Aliens Law.

Law on the Legal Status of Aliens (No. IX-2206), Art. 45. You must be a participant in a Lithuanian company that has, for at least the 6 months before you apply, carried on the activity in its founding documents under a business plan, and either be its head or hold shares of a public or private limited company with a nominal value of at least one third of its authorised capital; the head of such a company coming to work in it also qualifies (Art. 45(1)(1)-(2)). The company's equity (its assets, for other company forms) must be at least EUR 28,000, of which at least EUR 14,000 is money or other assets you invested, and it must employ full time Lithuanian, EU/EFTA or permanently resident workers whose monthly pay together is at least 2 times the latest published national average monthly gross wage. The Migration Department assesses whether the company is fictitious (Art. 45(5)). Two larger variants, investing at least EUR 260,000 in a company with at least 5 such jobs, or heading a company with equity of at least EUR 500,000 and at least 10 such jobs paid at least the national average, give a 3-year permit and a 1-month decision (Arts. 45(1)(2¹)-(2²), 45(3), 33). The standard permit is issued for 2 years, or for the planned activity if shorter (Art. 45(2)), with a decision within 3 months, halved on the expedited procedure (Arts. 33, 34¹). Family members may join without the 2-year waiting period (Art. 43(6)). Counts toward permanent residence at 5 years (Art. 53), with the language and Constitution exams, and naturalisation at 10 (Law on Citizenship, Art. 18). Not confirmed in the archived law: the state fees (reported as EUR 160, or EUR 320 expedited).

Law on the Legal Status of Aliens (No. IX-2206), Art. 46. You must be admitted to a study programme at a Lithuanian science and studies institution, to a general or formal vocational programme at a school, to a traineeship while studying abroad, or invited for further training there. For a study programme the permit covers the study period, up to 2 years at a time and up to 6 months beyond the final year; for residency and doctoral studies it is issued for 3 years; renewal needs at least 40 study credits in the last study year (Art. 46(2), (4)). First- and second-year students may work up to 20 hours a week outside summer holidays and placements (Art. 46(6)). General conditions (Arts. 26, 27): health insurance, sufficient means of subsistence in the amount set by the Minister of Social Security and Labour, and housing with at least 4 m2 per person (Art. 26(3¹)). Decision within 2 months for a study programme, halved on the expedited procedure (Arts. 33, 34¹). Within a year of qualifying you may get a 12-month permit to look for work or start a business (Art. 49⁴). Only half of the time on a study permit counts toward the 5 years for permanent residence, unless you completed higher-education studies in Lithuania (Art. 53(9)), so the permanent-residence field is left null here. Family members normally join only after you have lived in Lithuania for 2 years (Art. 43(6)); master's, residency and doctoral students are exempt from that wait (Art. 43(6¹)). Not confirmed in the archived law: the subsistence figure (reported as the national minimum monthly wage, EUR 1,153 in 2026, halved for some applicants) and the state fees (reported as EUR 160, or EUR 320 expedited).

Law on the Legal Status of Aliens (No. IX-2206), Art. 43. Family reunification covers, among others: the spouse or registered partner of a Lithuanian citizen or of a foreigner holding a residence permit; a minor whose parent, or the spouse of the parent who has custody of the minor, lives in Lithuania and is a Lithuanian citizen or holds a residence permit; a foreigner whose parent (one or both) or whose child is a Lithuanian citizen living in Lithuania; a parent of a foreigner holding a residence permit (Art. 43(1)(1)-(6)); and a foreigner whose parents live in Lithuania, hold a permanent residence permit and are unable to work because of old-age pension age or disability (Art. 43(1)(7)). Where both spouses or partners are foreigners, both must be at least 21 (Art. 43(7)). A foreign sponsor must normally have lived in Lithuania for the last 2 years, hold a temporary residence permit valid for at least 1 more year and have reasonable prospects of permanent residence (Art. 43(6)); this wait does not apply to sponsors holding, among others, an EU Blue Card, an intra-corporate transfer, startup, lecturer or researcher permit, or a business permit under Art. 45(1)(1)-(2²). In most cases the family member must meet the general conditions of health insurance, sufficient means and housing with at least 7 m2 per adult, or the sponsor undertakes to ensure them (Arts. 26, 43(3)), and the Migration Department checks for a sham marriage, partnership or adoption (Art. 43(4)). The permit runs for the same period as the sponsor's; joining a Lithuanian citizen or a permanent resident it is issued for 2 years and then changed for 4 (Art. 43(5)). A family member who came to live in Lithuania together with a Lithuanian citizen may be issued permanent residence directly (Art. 53(1)(3)); otherwise permanent residence after 5 years (Art. 53(1)(8)). Naturalisation after 10 years' lawful permanent residence, or after 7 years living lawfully in Lithuania with a Lithuanian-citizen spouse (Law on Citizenship, Arts. 18, 19), with the language and Constitution exams. Not confirmed in the archived law: the state fees (reported as EUR 160, or EUR 320 expedited).