Changes in Migration from 1 July 2019!

On July 1, 2019, the Migration Department under the Ministry of the Interior of Lithuania changes its structure and law.

The changes will be in:

Structure
Electronic Migration Services
Registration to the appointment in Migration Department and its territorial units
Visa procedures
Merging residence permit issuance procedures
Application forms
Working hours

Changes in Structure

The Migration Department becomes the main institution providing migration services in Lithuania. The Department was reorganised by consolidating the resources and functions of the three institutions - Police Department, State Border Guard Service and Migration Department under the Ministry of Interior.

Changes in Electronic Migration Services

After the transformation, Department will be able to provide more electronic services by upgrading the information system EPIS service portal: https://epis.vrm.lt/epis/ and initiating system MIGRIS. Individuals and legal persons will be able electronically provide mediation letters to obtain a national visa, issue or change a temporary residence permit, change employer or job function. At the moment MIGRIS is not available due to programming issues. The date when the system MIGRIS will be available is uncertain. The registration for migration services is still being provided through ePolice website: www.epolicija.lt

Changes in Registration for the appointment in Migration Department and its Territorial Units

For Non-EU citizens registration in Migration department and its territorial units for services is still provided through the ePolice portal: www.epolicija.lt. After 1st of July it is possible to register in any territorial unit in spite of the city of declared residence. It means that person who is going to declare residence in Vilnius can go to Kaunas, Šalčininkai or other territorial unit where the services are provided to apply for residence permit. The change intended to reduce queues in main Migration territorial units.

Changes in Visa Procedures

According to the department, people inviting a foreigner will no longer be required to confirm the invitation at the migration service as all procedures related to the confirmation of a foreigner's invitation will be automated.

The inviter will no longer have to submit a request to confirm the invitation as well as the accommodation owner's consent to accept the foreigner.

To get a Schengen visa, the inviter will only submit an intermediary letter that will confirm the inviting person's commitment to take care of the incoming person's needs.

Invitations for foreigners to come to Lithuania are free and their number is not restricted.

Changes in Merging residence permit issuance procedures

From July 1 procedures for the examination of the application for the issue or amendment of the residence permit and the issue of the residence permit will be merged. This will reduce the number of necessary visits to the Migration Department and its territorial units. Person applying for residence permit will now need to come to the Migration Department or its territorial unit two times instead of three to obtain the document.

Important! Going first time to submit the application is important for foreigner to participate in person since a foreigners' biometric data will be taken once an application to issue or amend a residence permit will be submitted, and once a positive decision is made, the permit's production will be initiated automatically. After the production of residence permit it can be taken by the person with Power of Attorney or the lawyer with representation agreement.

A foreigner will be required to pay a state-set fee before submitting an application to issue or amend a resident permit, excluding cases when people are exempt from such a fee pursuant to a procedure defined by laws.

The Migration Department also warns that payments for document formalisation will have to be made when submitting an application for a residence permit or its amendment.

Changes in application forms

There website www.migracija.lt is still being updated and forms in the page are removed or not valid. To get a valid necessary form it is possible only from the website where the new law is published. NOTE: the website and the law is in Lithuanian. The forms are in English and Lithuanian. https://www.e-tar.lt/portal/lt/legalAct/73f79710999a11e9ae2e9d61b1f977b3

Changes in working hours

The working hours that can be found in different websites may be not valid at the moment. In the official website the information is still being prepared. The information about working hours will be provided under this link: https://www.migracija.lt/index.php?1606005753 Until the information will be provided please check working hours by calling the information number: 8 700 60000.