Eligibility Quiz
Was your ancestor (parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent) a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania between February 16, 1918, and June 15, 1940?
Requirements
To qualify for restoration, you must prove a direct bloodline to an ancestor who held Lithuanian citizenship during the interwar period.
- Ancestry: You must be the child, grandchild, or great-grandchild (up to the 3rd generation) of a person who was a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania between February 16, 1918, and June 15, 1940.
- The 1940 Threshold: Your ancestor must have held citizenship specifically before the Soviet occupation began on June 15, 1940. If your ancestor left the territory of Lithuania before 1918 (the date of modern independence), they were technically citizens of the Russian Empire, and you generally do not qualify for this specific pathway.
- Dual Citizenship Eligibility: You can only keep your current citizenship (dual nationality) if your ancestor meets one of these "Departure" criteria:
- Exiles: The ancestor was forcibly deported from Lithuania during the occupations (1940–1990).
- Departed Persons: The ancestor left Lithuania before March 11, 1990, and settled in another country.
- Post-1990 Departure: If your ancestor left Lithuania after March 11, 1990, you may still restore your citizenship, but you will generally be required to renounce your current citizenship unless you qualify under very narrow exceptions (such as being a victim of persecution).
Conditions & Warnings
Dual citizenship is only permitted if the ancestor departed Lithuania before March 11, 1990; those who left after this date must usually renounce their current citizenship.
Descendants of ancestors who 'repatriated' to the Soviet Union under specific treaties may be disqualified from restoration.
A 2024 referendum to broaden dual citizenship rights failed, meaning strict dual-nationality restrictions remain in place.
Qualifications
No language exam is required for the restoration of citizenship based on ancestry.
Fees
Standard state fee is €60–€120; does not include archival searches or translations.
Program Details
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We can notify you when we're ready to support Lithuania.
Key Developments
The Migration Department reported significant processing delays for citizenship restoration, with some applicants waiting over a year for a decision due to increased application volumes and stricter document verification.
lrt.lt ↗A constitutional referendum to broaden dual citizenship rights failed to reach the required threshold of all eligible voters, meaning restoration applicants must still meet specific "exile" or "departure before 1990" criteria to retain their original nationality.
citizenx.com ↗The Seimas passed amendments to the Law on Citizenship that removed the requirement for an ancestor to have held Lithuanian citizenship specifically between 1918 and 1940, simplifying the restoration process for descendants of those who fled during the occupation.
sajr.co.za ↗