Residence permit in the Republic of Lithuania

Updated: 2020-06-12

A citizen of non-EU Member State can obtain residence permit, which allows foreigner to live in Lithuania all year long, depart and return to the country multiple times, as well as travel through all Schengen zone member countries visa free. Residency in Lithuania usually is granted for one year initially and next time renewed for two years in some cases even for three years.

There are two types of Lithuanian residence permits: temporary and permanent.

Temporary residence permit (also called TRP card) is issued for one, two or maximum three years and permanent is issued for five years. To obtain permanent residency you must live in Lithuania for five years with temporary residence permit, after this period of time you have a right to apply for a permanent residency. It is not a must, you can successfully keep renewing temporary residence permit as many years as you need 5, 10, 15 or 20 years, but if you wish to obtain permanent residence permit you must be prepared to pass Lithuanian language and constitution exam. All exams are organized and supervised by Education Development Center. After ten years of living in Lithuania foreigner may apply for a citizenship in the republic of Lithuania.

Immigration to Lithuania is very popular among foreigners. It is cheap, fast and allows to visit any European Union countries without any additional visa. Most popular ground for Lithuanian residency is by registering a company and becoming its shareholder and/ or director. You won’t need to bother about anything what is related with residence permit file preparation. All documents are being prepared by our professional lawyer and we do all the work on behalf of you.

The main legal act regulating the residence permits is Lithuanian Law on the Legal status of Aliens

Available immigration programs to Lithuania

1. Company ownership or director of the company

Under this basis it is possible to include total 4 persons in one company to apply for a residence permit. There can be up to three shareholders and one director. No restrictions for nationalities. As well one person can apply under the same basis being a shareholder and director in one person. For the first time residence permit in Lithuania will be issued for one year, second and all other times it will be renewed for two years. Person can apply for a permanent residence permit after five years of holding temporary residence permit. Applicant can bring his family members together.

The company has to meet some requirements set by the migration department.

• Company has to have not less than 28’000,- Eur value of share capital and each separate shareholder has to own not less than 14’000,- Eur of share value. It means if there are one or two shareholders it is enough to have share capital value of 28’000,- Eur. If there will be three shareholders, share capital value has to be not less than 42’000,- Eur. You don’t need to deposit the share capital money.
• As well in the company has to be hired at least one Lithuanian citizen with a salary not less than two average salaries of Lithuania, which currently is 890,- Eur. So two average salaries would equal to 1’780,- Eur. It does not matter how many employees you will hire, the most important thing is that TOTAL salaries amount of all Lithuanian workers would be not less than 1’780,- Eur.
• The company has to be active for at least 6 months. It means that after registering a company you have to run business for minimum six months before applying for a Lithuanian residence permit in the migration department. They will ask to show bank statements, sale, purchase invoices, collaboration contracts, office lease agreement and employments contracts of Lithuanian citizens.

Minimum costs to run a company in Lithuania:

• Government taxes from two average salaries: 900,- Eur/month;
• Office rent starting from 150,- Eur/month;
• Accounting services 100,- Eur/month;

Total minimal expenses: 1’150,- Eur/month.

Procedure: Company registration takes 5 business days, after registration company has to be run for six months and then we will prepare residence permit application forms and supporting documents within 5 business days. Decision by the migration department takes around 2 months to come out. Applicant can submit documents in any Lithuanian embassy abroad or submitting documents directly in Lithuania migration department. For company registration personal appearance is not mandatory.

2. Representative office, branch office registration in Lithuania

Under this basis it is possible to apply basically unlimited count of applicants. The foreign mother company of a branch office in Lithuania can transfer its own employees to work in a branch office. Therefore manager or specialists can reside in the country. All workers dedicated to work in branch office has to have at least one year of work experience in their foreign mother company. Residence permit in Lithuania will be issued for a maximum term of three years. After this period employees have to leave Lithuania and return to mother company. It is not possible to prolong residence after three years. There are no requirements to employ Lithuanian citizens, foreign company can transfer only its own employees.

Required documents:

• Foreign company registration extract legalized or approved by apostille;
• Passport copy, living place address, contact details;
• Education diploma legalized or approved by apostille;
• Employment contract from the foreign mother company.

Procedure: Branch office in Lithuania registration will take around 10 business days. After that it will take another 5 to 10 business days to finalize application files for applicants to apply for residence permit in Lithuania under branch office registration basis. Decision by the migration department takes around 2 months to come out. Applicant can submit documents in any Lithuanian embassy abroad or submitting documents directly in Lithuania migration department. For branch office registration personal appearance is not mandatory.

Minimum costs to run a branch office in Lithuania:

• Government taxes from one employee wage: 200,- Eur/month;
• Office rent starting from 150,- Eur/month;
• Accounting services 100,- Eur/month;

Total minimal expenses: 450,- Eur/month.

3. Performing a job requiring high professional skills

Under this basis you will establish a company and employ yourself in it. More than one person can be employed in the same company. There are no requirements hiring Lithuanian citizens. The only major requirement is to have education diploma in bachelor or master and salary has to be not less than 2’670,- Eur in Lithuanian company.

Procedure: Company registration takes 5 business days, then we will prepare residence permit in Lithuania application forms and supporting documents within 5 business days. Decision by the migration department takes around 2 months to come out. Applicant can submit documents in any Lithuanian embassy abroad or submitting documents directly in Lithuania migration department. For company registration personal appearance is not mandatory.

Minimum costs to run a company in Lithuania hiring one highly skilled professional:

• Government taxes from one highly skilled employee wage: 1’450,- Eur/month;
• Office rent starting from 150,- Eur/month;
• Accounting services 100,- Eur/month;

Total minimal expenses: 1’700,- Eur/month.

4. Lithuania residence permit by investment

It is possible to obtain residence permit in Lithuania by investing in already running company or business. If you want to save your time and money developing your own business in Lithuania from scratch it is the best option to purchase whole or 1/3 part of already running business. There are many business opportunities and running business for sale in Lithuania. As well such company will not require you to deposit any more money to maintain its activities, because such company has already incomes to cover its running costs and even to pay out dividends to their shareholders. This is the same basis as you would apply for a Lithuanian residence permit under the basis of establishing a new company and running a business, but in this case you will not need to bother about running the business for minimum six month (this is the period that migration department requires to provide documents showing business activities to prove that your company is active), because you already will have a running company with employees, bank statements, invoices, premises, turnovers and other necessary stuff required to successfully obtain a Lithuanian residence permit.

Buying a running business is different for each case, because each time we need to look for a genuine, non-expensive business to buy for our client, the prices starts from 15’000,- Eur and up to 50’000,- Eur. Such company can easily give total of four residence permits for foreigners in Lithuania.

Family immigration to Lithuania

Applicants who have been granted residence permit in Lithuania can bring their family member together to live in Lithuania. It means if one person gets granted residency then he can bring his wife or husband and all kids under 18 years to live with him. Their residence permit will be issued for the same period as for the first applicant. Family members does not need to pay any additional taxes or be employed in the company or own any shares in any company.

Lithuania immigration from Pakistan

All citizens of Islamic Republic of Pakistan can easily immigrate to Lithuania through business immigration programs that we offer. Lithuania by itself does not have its own embassy in Pakistan, there is an embassy of Hungary which deals on behalf of Lithuania and all Pakistani citizens can apply there for a visa to come to Lithuania. For this reason we are able to issue business invitation letter to Lithuania for applicant to provide during document submission. In Hungarian representative office is not possible to submit documents for a residency in Lithuania. For document submission you should visit nearest Lithuanian embassy in India, Turkey, Egypt  or other countries. We can register a company or branch office remotely and post documents for applicant in Pakistan to apply for a visa or residence permit.

Lithuania immigration from India

India is a perfect country for applicants to apply for a Lithuanian business visa or residence permit in Lithuania, because Lithuania has its own embassy in New Delhi, therefore it is easy for applicants to reach the embassy for document submission. We will arrange all necessary documents remotely and will post by courier to applicant, after receiving documents applicant will be able to apply for a visa or residence permit remotely.

How to get residence permit in Lithuania

In order to get a residence permit you need to meet necessary requirements set by the migration department. There are several legal grounds to apply. Our company is dealing only with business immigration clients as per list below:

1. Register a company, start doing business;
2. Register a branch office and transfer foreign workers to work in it;
3. Register a company and employ yourself as highly skilled specialist;
4. Buy already running business and apply for a residency instantly.