The statutory time limit is three months. Article 33(1)(1) of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens (UTP\u012e) provides that an application for a temporary residence permit must be examined within 3 months of the date on which the application is submitted. The key word here is \u201csubmitted\u201d. The time limit starts from the submission of the application in person, not from the day you finished gathering the documents. In practice, the queue for an appointment can take about a month. The real wait is the appointment queue plus the examination period, and you need to plan for both.<\/p>\r\n
This is the most common misunderstanding in this area, and it costs you the date on which work was due to start.<\/p>\r\n
Clients count from the day the documents are ready. The authority counts from the submission of the application. Between those two dates lies the appointment queue, whose length is not set by any law and which varies.<\/p>\r\n
The practical conclusion we give every client: book the appointment first, and only then finish gathering the documents. The queue is the longest and least controllable element.<\/p>\r\n
An urgent procedure exists. Article 34-1(1) UTP\u012e provides that, at the alien's request, the application may be examined under the urgent procedure, in which case the examination periods referred to above are cut by half. Three months become a month and a half. The urgent procedure does not shorten the appointment queue.<\/p>\r\n
A different time limit applies to the certificate of the right of temporary residence: Article 99-1 UTP\u012e sets one month from the date the application is submitted to the Migration Department.<\/p>\r\n
Article 11(2) UTP\u012e provides that the stay in Lithuania and other Schengen states of an alien who is subject to the visa-free regime may not exceed 90 days in any 180-day period.<\/p>\r\n
Three months of examination and 90 days of visa-free stay are almost the same number. This means there is no margin. If a month's queue is added to the examination, the margin becomes negative.<\/p>\r\n
A client received the decision and started preparing the employment contract at their usual pace. The time limit they did not know about was ten days.<\/p>\r\n
Article 36(3)(1) UTP\u012e provides: if more than 10 days have passed since the day, specified by the employer, on which the alien was to arrive in Lithuania, and the alien has not arrived or has not been employed, the employer must inform the Migration Department of this within 7 days.<\/p>\r\n
This is the time limit employers miss most often. It starts silently \u2013 nobody sends a reminder. As soon as you know the arrival date, which you specified yourselves, we recommend putting both dates in your calendar: the tenth day after it and the seven-day notification deadline.<\/p>\r\n
A temporary residence permit is a document (Article 2(14) UTP\u012e). An alien to whom it is issued on the basis of employment has the right to work in Lithuania once they already hold the temporary residence permit (point 4 of Article 58 UTP\u012e). Work may therefore start from the issue of the permit: not from the adoption of the decision, not from receipt of the decision, and not from the signing of the employment contract.<\/p>\r\n
There are two exceptions. An alien who has applied for an EU Blue Card (Article 44-1(2) UTP\u012e) and an intra-corporate transferee (Article 44-2(4) UTP\u012e) may start work as soon as the application is submitted, provided they are lawfully present in Lithuania. In all other cases they may not be employed earlier, and an early start date in the employment contract is a mistake that an inspection will pick up.<\/p>\r\n
A client had earlier been given confirmation that the permit card must be collected in person. The reason is visible from the law itself: Article 24(2) UTP\u012e provides that the alien's biometric data are recorded electronically in the residence permit to confirm identity \u2013 a facial image and two fingerprints.<\/p>\r\n
The collection procedure itself is set not in the law but in secondary legislation. We say this openly, because the procedure changes more often than the law.<\/p>\r\n
Article 45(1)(1) UTP\u012e sets out one of the most frequently used grounds. Its requirements are specific: the company has, for at least the last 6 months before the application, been carrying on the activities stated in its founding documents; it employs full-time citizens of Lithuania, another EU or EFTA member state, or aliens permanently resident in Lithuania, whose monthly pay together amounts to at least 2 times the average monthly gross wage for the most recently published calendar year; its equity is at least EUR 28,000, of which at least EUR 14,000 consists of funds or other assets invested by the alien; and the alien is the company's CEO or a shareholder whose shares have a nominal value of at least 1\/3 of the share capital.<\/p>\r\n
The six-month activity requirement means the company has to be set up at least half a year before you intend to apply.<\/p>\r\n
Article 53(1)(8) UTP\u012e provides that a permanent residence permit may be issued to an alien who has lived in Lithuania lawfully and without interruption for the last 5 years while holding a document granting or confirming the right of residence, a national visa, or a document confirming the right to remain in Lithuania issued in a case specified in the Law.<\/p>\r\n
The question that always comes up concerns trips abroad. Article 53(10) UTP\u012e answers it: the period of residence is not interrupted by time spent outside Lithuania if it does not last longer than 6 consecutive months and does not total more than 10 months over the 5-year period. The duration of business trips is not counted towards this time, provided the permanent place of residence remains in Lithuania.<\/p>\r\n
Article 53(6) UTP\u012e adds two examinations: in the state language and in the basics of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.<\/p>\r\n
A practical note: the Migration Department assesses the period individually, and the list of acceptable evidence differs depending on the basis on which the person has been residing. A declared place of residence alone is not enough. Collect employment contracts, tax and social insurance records, rental agreements and travel documents for all five years, and collect them before you need them.<\/p>\r\n
Migration requirements change often \u2013 the law changes, secondary legislation changes, and practice changes. It is worth checking time limits and document lists just before you apply, rather than relying on information obtained six months earlier.<\/p>\r\n
Write to us with the basis for coming to Lithuania, the nationality and the planned start date. We will tell you which ground fits, what documents you will need and from which day to realistically count the time limit. The first assessment is free of charge.<\/p>\r\n
Tel. +370 5 212 1506, email info@linden.lt<\/p>\r\n