Almost 36,000 foreigners denied residency in Lithuania – ministry

VILNIUS - Almost 36,000 foreigners have no been allowed to work and reside in Lithuania this year after the country tightened migration control measures, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.

"Lithuania's progress over the past four years has boosted labor immigration, making us an attractive country to earn money. However, not only the number of people coming to live and work is increasing, but also the need for control. Although we will only see the result of the tougher measures later, it is clear that we are on the right track and that the immigration situation is under control," Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said.

This year, 67,175 applications have been assessed during the preliminary examination, of which 20,410 have been rejected due to deficiencies.

According to the Ministry, there has also been a decrease in the number of applications for residence permits in Lithuania on the basis of work from Central Asia, such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In July-August 2023, citizens of Central Asian countries submitted a total of 8,907 applications for residence permits in Lithuania on the basis of work. This year, 2,344 such applications were submitted during the same period.

Non-compliant employers are now banned from providing mediation letters. A total of 45 companies are banned from inviting foreigners to work in Lithuania.

In addition, the Migration Department, together with other authorities, checks businesses employing foreigners, with a total of 1,800 such inspections having been carried out so far this year. Also, 37,942 foreign citizens have undergone checks and 4,900 administrative offence reports have been produced, mostly regarding illegal stay in Lithuania and violations of the residence declaration procedure. 

In the first eight months of this year, 11,574 temporary residence permits were revoked on various grounds, which is 3.5 times more than in the same period last year (3,419).

During the same period this year, 5,822 foreigners were banned from entering Lithuania, which is almost twice as many as last year.

According to the Interior Ministry, a new quota calculation mechanism will be introduced from January 1, limiting the maximum number of new foreigners entering the country per year to 1.4 percent of Lithuania's permanent population.

Information systems will also be updated to enable more effective monitoring of the presence of foreigners in the country and the exchange of data between responsible authorities.

Currently, about 116,000 foreigners work in Lithuania and about 220,000 reside there, including war refugees from Ukraine.