Retention of dual citizenship in the case of the departure from Lithuania after 11 March 1990

The dual citizenship in Lithuania is possible only in certain exceptional cases provided for by law. Such exceptional cases are determined in Article 7 of the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania. It is established by Article 7 of the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania that a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania may be a citizen of another state at the same time, provided he meets at least one of the following conditions:

1) he has acquired citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania and citizenship of another state at birth;

2) he is a person who was exiled from occupied Lithuania before 11 March 1990 and acquired citizenship of another state;

3) he is a person who departed from Lithuania before 11 March 1990 and acquired citizenship of another state;

4) he is a descendant of a person referred to in subparagraph 2 or 3 of this Article;

5) by virtue of marriage to a citizen of another state he has ipso facto acquired citizenship of that state;

6) he is a person under 21 years of age, provided he was adopted by citizens (citizen) of Lithuania before reaching 18 years of age and, as a result of the adoption, acquired citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania;

7) he is a person under 21 years of age, provided he, being a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania, was adopted by citizens (citizen) of another state before reaching 18 years of age and, as a result of the adoption, acquired citizenship of that state;

8) he has acquired citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania by way of exception while being a citizen of another state;

9) he has acquired citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania while having refugee status in the Republic of Lithuania.

Person exiled from the occupied Republic of Lithuania before 11 March 1990 means a person who held citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania before 15 June 1940 or his descendant, who were forcibly expelled from Lithuania by decisions of institutions or courts of occupation regimes in the period from 15 June 1940 to 11 March 1990 for reasons of resistance to occupation regimes, political or social reasons or reasons of origin.

Person who fled Lithuania before 11 March 1990 means a person who held citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania before 15 June 1940 or his descendant, who left the current territory of the Republic of Lithuania before 11 March 1990 to reside permanently in another state, if their permanent residence on 11 March 1990 was outside Lithuania.

Descendant of a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania means a child, grandchild or great-grandchild of a person who held citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania before 15 June 1940.

On the basis of the aforementioned provisions of the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania, which provide for exceptional cases of possible dual citizenship, persons who moved from Lithuania after the restoration of independence after 11 March 1990 and acquired foreign citizenship, can retain dual citizenship only in exceptional cases. A person who departed from Lithuania and acquired a citizenship of other state, must inform about the acquisition of foreign citizenship the Migration Department under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania, territorial police station or Lithuanian diplomatic mission, or consular post, no longer than within two months after the acquisition of foreign citizenship.

After the receipt of notification on the acquisition of foreign citizenship, an issue of loss of citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania shall be considered. If it is determined that there are no grounds for preserving dual citizenship a person loses citizenship of Lithuania.

A dual citizenship can be preserved after having determined exceptional cases of possible dual citizenship, whereof stipulated in Article 7 of the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania.

It should be noticed that while assessing the issue of dual citizenship, the moment of acquiring foreign citizenship in each particular case is significant. If the person has acquired foreign citizenship within a period from 01 January 2003 to 15 November 2006, the loss of citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania shall not be applicable and the person preserves dual citizenship, i.e. the citizenship of Lithuania and the acquired foreign citizenship (applies to descendants of a person who held Lithuanian citizenship before 1940 06 15 and for persons of Lithuanian descent).

MIGRATION LAW CENTER