Eligibility quiz
Was one of your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents a Lithuanian citizen before and on 15 June 1940?
Benefits
Benefits for youBenefits for you
Lithuanian passport and ID
A Lithuanian passport is valid for 10 years over age 16, 5 years at ages 5–16 and 2 years under age 5.
An identity card can be used for travel where accepted.
It is normally valid for 10 years at ages 16–70 and 30 years from age 70, with shorter periods for children.
Live in Lithuania for life
Lithuanian citizens can live in Lithuania indefinitely and return to settle at any time.
Citizenship does not expire, and there is no minimum time you must live in Lithuania to keep it.
Work in Lithuania
Lithuanian citizens can choose a job or start a business in Lithuania without immigration restrictions on their right to work.
Get help abroad
Lithuanian citizens can seek consular help abroad, including a return certificate or temporary passport if a document is lost.
Where Lithuania has no embassy or consulate outside the EU, another EU country's embassy or consulate can help with emergencies, including lost documents, arrest or serious illness.
Vote and run for office
Lithuanian citizens can vote from age 18, unless a court has declared them legally incapable.
Citizens can also take part in government and stand for office, with separate eligibility rules for each office.
Use public healthcare
People with compulsory health insurance can use covered healthcare in Lithuania; people without the required insurance generally pay for treatment.
Permanent residents are entitled to emergency medical help.
In other EU countries, access depends on eligibility and insurance rules.
Get social support
Lithuanian citizens can qualify for pensions and support for old age, disability, unemployment, sickness, widowhood, loss of a breadwinner and other circumstances.
Payments depend on the conditions for each benefit.
Social-security rules can also coordinate support across EU countries.
How to apply
Applying from inside LithuaniaApplying from inside Lithuania
Find your office
Find the Migration Department customer service office that serves the area where you live.
Searches DuckDuckGo for “Which Lithuanian Migration Department customer service office serves your city?”
Gather your documents
Prepare the required documents for the Migration Department.
See required documentsFill in your application
Create or sign in to your Lithuanian Migration Information System (MIGRIS) account and personally fill in the application to restore citizenship. Give your email address and upload copies of your documents.
Fill in your applicationPay the application fee
Pay the state fee by bank transfer using the State Tax Inspectorate payment details and payment code 5740.
Find payment detailsSearches DuckDuckGo for “How do I pay the Lithuanian Migration Department fee to restore citizenship?”
Submit your application
Personally submit your application in MIGRIS and select the Migration Department as the place where the original documents will be presented.
Submit your applicationPresent your original documents
Bring the originals of the uploaded documents to the Migration Department within four months of completing your MIGRIS application; they will be compared with the copies and returned. An authorised representative may present the originals for you.
Searches DuckDuckGo for “Which Lithuanian Migration Department customer service office serves your city?”
Wait for the decision
Follow your application in your MIGRIS account and respond if the Migration Department asks for more information or documents.
Follow your applicationDocuments needed
Family certificates and recordsFamily certificates and records
Birth certificates
Get your birth certificate showing your Lithuanian parent. Add your parent's birth record if it helps establish your family link.
Parent's citizenship records
Provide an official record showing that your Lithuanian parent held Lithuanian citizenship before 15 June 1940 and was still a citizen on that date, or your previously issued certificate of the right to restore citizenship. If you cannot find direct proof, the Migration Department may consider records of your parent's birth, residence, marriage, work, education, property or children. If the records are already in someone else's citizenship application, you can instead submit a written request to use that file: give the person's name, surname and date of birth, and their contact details if known, or include their consent.
Name change records *
Provide records showing changes to your or your Lithuanian parent's name, surname or other personal details. If you have a certificate of the right to restore citizenship, you only need to show changes made after it was issued.
* Only if your or your Lithuanian parent's name or other personal details changed.
May need translationMay need apostille/legalisationConsiderations
Things to think aboutThings to think about
Reporting another citizenship
If you acquire another citizenship, you generally must notify Lithuania within two months, unless an exception applies.
You can notify the responsible Lithuanian office, embassy or consulate.
Tax on public income
In certain circumstances, Lithuanian citizens receiving Lithuanian public funding or pay may be treated as Lithuanian tax residents, including when abroad.
Tax residents are generally taxed on income from Lithuania and abroad, with tax agreements taken into account.
Military and defence duties
Lithuanian citizens may have to perform military or alternative service or other defence duties, including when living abroad.
Who is called depends on the rules, including age, health, exemptions and postponements.
Women are not subject to the same universal peacetime call-up rule as men.
Citizenship can be lost
Citizenship can end if you give it up, gain another without an exception, or fail to give up another by 21 when required.
It can also end through unauthorised service for another state, a treaty, fraud, forged documents, unmet conditions or an unlawful decision.
A child may lose it when a parent does, but generally not if acquired at birth, or if this leaves the child without any citizenship.
Discuss
Online communitiesOnline communities
r/LithuanianCitizenship
English Reddit group for people interested in Lithuanian citizenship
Join on RedditExpats & Foreigners in Lithuania
English Facebook group for people living in Lithuania interested in Lithuanian local life
Join on FacebookForeigners in Kaunas
English Facebook group for people living in Lithuania interested in Lithuanian local life
Join on FacebookConsultation
Talk to a professionalTalk to a professional
Adavia doesn't provide advice, but we're building a directory of professionals who do. If you'd like, we can notify you when help is available.
Updated