The new Description of the National Visa Issuance
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.
It is important to remember that from 1 July, national visas will not be issued to:
- Full-time students coming to study at higher education institutions registered and operating in the Republic of Lithuania;
- Teachers and researchers coming to work in higher education institutions under employment contracts;
- Foreigners coming to work when their profession is entered in the list of missing professions;
- Foreign employees who have a work permit issued by the Employment Service;
- Citizens of Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, New Zealand, South Korea, Canada and Belarus, who until now received national visas in a simplified manner;
- Foreigners who have submitted an application to issue or change a residence permit or a family member card of an EU citizen;
- Foreigners for whom the Migration Department has made a decision to issue a residence permit or a family member card of an EU citizen.
Foreigners of all these categories, in order to legally enter and stay in Lithuania, will have to apply not for a national visa, but for obtaining a temporary residence permit in Lithuania.
It can be obtained not only in Lithuania, upon arrival at the Migration Department, but also in 34 centers of the company “VFS Global” operating in foreign countries, where the aforementioned services have been provided since the beginning of this year.
When and why is the permit not mandatory for obtaining a residence permit in Lithuania?
1. The foreigner intends to work in accordance to the employment contract and his/her profession is included in the list of professions in short supply (Article 44 Part 1 Point 2 of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens)
2. Foreigner’s qualifications are relevant to the work to be performed. The employer must make sure that the foreigner has documents confirming his/her qualifications (diploma, certificate, etc.)
3. The foreigner has at least one year’s work experience in the last three years relevant to the work to be performed. The employer must make sure that the foreigner has documentation proving that he/she has at least one year’s work experience in the last three years relevant to the work to be performed (work book, certificate from current and/or former employer).
Process time
A foreigner’s application for a residence permit must be examined by Migration Department for the issuance of a residence permit – no later than within 6 months from the date of receipt of the application at the institution authorized by the Minister of the Interior.
List of required documents (Article 44 Part 1 Point 2 of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens)
1) The determined form request to issue the temporary residence permit in the Republic of Lithuania. The request is submitted via the Lithuanian Migration Information System (MIGRIS);
2) Valid travel document (passport);
3) Number of mediation letter submitted by the employer via the Lithuanian Migration Information System (MIGRIS) (shall be indicated via ‘MIGRIS’ when filling-out the request regarding the temporary residence permit);
4) Document affirming that the alien has sufficient funds and/or receives regular income (e.g., bank certificate);
5) Certificate(s) issued by the competent institution(s) of the foreign country (countries), wherein prior to arriving in the Republic of Lithuania the alien was living or is living for the last 2 years (save for those cases, when living in the foreign country lasted less than 6 months within 12 month period) affirming, that the alien was not sentenced in this (these) country (countries) (certificate confirming the absence of any criminal record), which must be issued no sooner than 6 months before the day of accepting the request to issue the temporary residence permit. If the alien while residing in the Republic of Lithuania for the purposes of the issuance of the temporary residence permit submits the valid national visa of the Republic of Lithuania, with which they arrived to the Republic of Lithuania, and intends to further stay in the Republic of Lithuania, then along with the request to issue the temporary residence permit they may also submit the valid criminal record(s), which is (are) issued no sooner than 1 month prior to the day of receiving the national visa of the Republic of Lithuania. If the alien was sentenced, the criminal record must indicate when and for which criminal activity they were sentenced, what sentence was awarded and whether it was served*;
You prepare other documents yourself. And you are personally responsible for their preparation and content. Special attention should be focused on the process of legalization of documents and financial guarantees of a foreigner. Why is legalization necessary? The migration service will not be able to check the legality of the documents you submitted without legalization and an apostille. Therefore, you should plan this process in advance.
For more information please call +48 511 546 194 (WhatsApp) or mail to info@tsve.pl