By the order of the Minister of the Interior, Agnė Bilotaitė, the new Description of the National Visa Issuance Procedure, which entered into force on 01 July, was approved. According to this piece of legislation, some grounds on which foreigners used to apply for a national visa have been amended.

Furthermore, as of the said date, i.e. 01 July, all applications for issuing national visas are submitted through the Lithuanian migration information system MIGRIS - on the website migracija.lt. As of this Tuesday, 38 such applications have been received.

From now on, a national visa can be issued:

• For students coming to Lithuania under the study exchange program;
• For foreigners who come to Lithuania to work as lecturers or to carry out scientific research and/or experimental (social, cultural) development work as researchers, having a creator’s agreement with the Lithuanian Science and Studies Institution. In such cases, the national visa will also be issued to the family members of such foreigners;
• For lecturers or researchers who come to Lithuania to engage in joint government programs with foreign countries, as well as their family members;
• For athletes participating in high-level sports competitions or coaches, as defined in the Law on Sports of the Republic of Lithuania, coming to Lithuania to engage in sports activities. In these cases, national visas may also be issued to family members of such foreigners;
• For seafarers arriving on a vessel sailing under the flag of the state of Lithuania, or if they are crew members of the vessel that is being repaired in Lithuania;
• For journalists accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania;
• For foreigners who cannot leave Lithuania for any of the following reasons: illness, other acute health disorder or body condition, personal reason that foreigners could not foresee or force majeure;
• For foreigners-businessmen, if they come to Lithuania to engage in legal activities and are participants in companies registered in the Register of Legal Entities, incorporated within the last one year before the date of submission of the application for issuing of a national visa, if the company’s equity capital (in the case of non joint stock companies and non private joint stock companies, value of assets) is worth at least 28 thousand euros, of which at least 14 thousand euros are the funds or other assets invested by such foreigners.
• For foreigners coming to Lithuania for seasonal work, who have a seasonal work permit issued by the Employment Service for more than 90 days or who have an extended seasonal work permit if the total period exceeds 90 days, or who have submitted an application to the Employment Service for a new or extended seasonal work permit;
• For foreigners who are employees of companies incorporated in countries that do not belong to the European Union or the European Free Trade Association, working under an open-ended employment agreement, and who are temporarily posted by such companies to Lithuania to work;
• For foreigners arriving in Lithuania in accordance with the provisions of international treaties or other agreements of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as in other cases when the purpose of their arrival is a long-term stay in the Republic of Lithuania. It can be long-term treatment or rehabilitation, upgrading of high professional qualifications, volunteering, etc.

The Migration Department draws attention to the fact that after the entry into force of the new Description of the National Visa Issuance Procedure, national visas will not be issued to students of full-time studies coming to study in Lithuania, as well as to teachers and researchers coming to work in higher education institutions under employment agreements, as well as to foreigners coming to work when their profession is entered in the list of Professions in Demand and to foreigners of several other categories.

Such persons will be required to apply for a temporary residence permit in Lithuania.

Certain requirements also apply to the documents of foreigners applying for a national visa. The individual’s passport must have been issued within the last ten years and must contain at least two blank pages for visas. The validity period of the passport must be at least 3 months longer than the validity period of the visa for which the application is submitted.

If the validity of the travel document does not exceed the validity period of the requested national visa or exceeds it by less than 3 months, the national visa is issued for a period that is 3 months shorter than the validity period of the travel document.

Specialists of the Migration Department will have to examine the visa application and make a decision within 15 calendar days from the date of receipt of the application. The examination deadline can be extended and last up to 45 calendar days in total.

After receiving a visa sticker, a foreigner intending to come to Lithuania must carefully plan his trip and pay attention to the commencement of the validity of the visa. In the event that a foreigner would arrive in Lithuania with a visa issued to him, the validity of which has not yet commenced, such a person would not be allowed into the country.

The Migration Department reminds that there are no more so-called waiting visas. Foreigners must plan the period of their legal stay in Lithuania responsibly and take care of its extension in advance.

The procedure for submitting applications for Schengen visas has not changed since 01 July.