Residence and Work Permits in Lithuania and the EU

The Blue Card is a permit to legally reside and work in Lithuania and move to another EU Member State to work in a highly skilled position. In Lithuania, the Blue Card is a temporary residence permit. Applying for a Blue Card does not require a decision from the Employment Service on your eligibility for the labour market. Your temporary residence permit will be issued or replaced for 3 years, or for the duration of the employment contract plus 3 months if the contract is for less than 3 years. Who is eligible?

• If you have a higher education diploma (such as a university degree), or
• Professional experience of at least 3 years’ as an information technology and communication technology services manager or as an information technology and communication technology professional gained in the last 7 years which is equivalent to a higher education qualification, or
• At least 5 years’ professional experience equivalent to a higher education qualification.

Other necessary conditions:

• An employer must pay a highly qualified employee a salary of at least 1.5 times the gross average monthly salary for the last published calendar year;
• If the employee’s profession is included in the list of high value-added professions for which there is a shortage of workers in the Republic of Lithuania, a salary of at least 1.2 times the average gross monthly wage for the last published calendar year (Computer Games Software Developer, Web Services Developer, Programmer, Software Engineer, Computer Database Analyst, Database Programmer, Computer Systems Administrator, Network Analyst, Communications Programmer, Operational Data Processing Engineer, Computer Engineer, Robotics Engineer, etc).
• An employment contract or a binding job offer.

Further requirements:

• When you obtain the temporary residence permit, you must declare your place of residence.

Who is eligible?

• Intend to establish and operate an innovative startup in Lithuania;
• Demonstrate that your business has a strong innovation-based growth potential;
• Have the necessary qualifications, funding, and a viable business plan to implement your project;
• Be a founder or future shareholder of the startup;
• Be one of no more than four foreign founders participating in the startup.

Residence Permit

Important Requirements

• The startup must be established and its activities commenced within 120 days from the issuance of the residence permit.
• If the startup has already been established by other founders, the applicant must become a shareholder of the startup within 60 days from the issuance of the residence permit.

One-time compensations for highly qualified employees from the shortage occupation list and for companies employing them employees is provided in Lithuania. These compensations are designed to attract employees from abroad and cover at least a part of their recruitment and relocation costs to Lithuania. Conditions for employee Any highly qualified employee who relocated to Lithuania with the intention to work and is looking to get compensated for the relocation costs must first meet the following criteria:

• The employee is currently considered a permanent resident of Lithuania and has not been considered a permanent resident of Lithuania for at least 5 years before that,
• The employee has concluded an employment contract of an indefinite period for the performance of work in the territory of Lithuania (also applies to remote-work),
• The employee’s occupation is included in the list of professions that require high professional qualifications and for which there is a shortage of employees in Lithuania (biotechnology, engineering, information technology and physical sciences occupations are predominant on the list),
• The employee has an average monthly salary of at least 4.1 times the minimum monthly salary in Lithuania over a 6-month period, or at least the average gross monthly salary of all the employees of the employer hiring him/her if this salary is higher.

Any employee from Ukraine will also be eligible for this compensation – under facilitated conditions:

• The employee is considered a permanent resident of Lithuania from the year 2022 or later,
• The employee has concluded an employment contract of an indefinite period for the performance of work in the territory of Lithuania,
• The employee has an average monthly salary of at least 2.4 times the minimum monthly salary in Lithuania over a 3-month period.

Conditions for employer An employer looking to get compensated for highly-qualified foreigner recruiting costs, must also meet certain conditions:

• The employer is not bankrupt, in liquidation or subject to international financial sanctions,
• The employer is not indebted to its employees, to the State budget of the Republic of Lithuania or to the budget of the State Social Insurance Fund,
• The employer has no outstanding contractual obligations to the Employment Service,
• The employer’s responsible person has not been subject to a fine imposed for the offences referred to in Articles 56, 57 and 58 of the Employment Law, and/or to an administrative penalty imposed under the Code of Administrative Offences for illegal work, or has not had more than one administrative penalty for breaches of Labour Law, occupational safety and health legislation, etc. in the last one year,
• The employer is not a budgetary institution,
• the employed foreigner meets the criteria listed above and has not been an employee of this employer or an enterprise linked to this employer for at least the 5 preceding calendar years before starting to work in Lithuania.

Compensations Highly skilled employees will be eligible to a compensation of 4.1 times the minimum monthly salary, which is supposed to cover at least part of the relocation costs to Lithuania, while employers – 7.2 times the minimum monthly salary for the costs of recruiting highly skilled workers from abroad. To be granted this compensation, employees will have to apply to the Employment Service no earlier than 6 months and no later than 2 years after the start of their employment in Lithuania, while those relocating from Ukraine – no earlier than 3 months and no later than 2 years after the start of their employment in Lithuania. Employers will have to apply no earlier than 12 months and no later than 2 years after the start of their employment contract.

The status of an electronic resident allows a foreigner to use the administrative, public, or commercial services provided electronically (remotely) in the Republic of Lithuania. Who is eligible? All foreigners can acquire the status of electronic resident, except in cases when:

• another Schengen state has entered an alert in the central second-generation Schengen Information System for refusal of entry with respect to a foreigner;
• a foreigner is included in the national list of foreigners prohibited from entering the Republic of Lithuania.

A foreigner is granted the status of an e-resident for 3 years. A foreigner who has been granted the status of an e-resident will be issued an electronic identification and electronic signature means with a certificate of identification of an e-resident in the electronic space and a qualified electronic signature certificate of an e-resident entered therein, which are valid for a period no longer than the validity of the status of an e-resident of a foreigner. This electronic identification and electronic signature mean issued to the foreigner gives him/her the opportunity to use the administrative, public, or commercial services provided electronically (remotely) in the Republic of Lithuania.

Simplified migration procedure allowing companies to relocate 20+ of their employees from outside the EU. Lithuania has been making it increasingly easier to set up a company, get a residence permit and integrate into our country’s welcoming society. Amendments to the Law on Investment, Employment and Legal Status of Aliens will facilitate the transfer of a company’s employees and their family members by transferring full or part of activities from third countries to Lithuania. All transferred employees will be able to apply for a residence permit in Lithuania. The Employment Service will not assess the qualifications or work experience of such employees, i.e.  their suitability for company’s positions will be judged by the investor. No assessment will be made on whether family members meet the needs of the labour market; they will have the right to work in Lithuania and receive a residence permit of the same duration. This provision will apply to enterprises from third countries investing in Lithuania which have investment commitment for at least EUR 1.45 million and intend to create at least 20 jobs. To prevent fraud, the investor will have to undertake to pay employees a minimum 1.5 average wage depending on the municipality in which the investment is made.