2018 10 18 Referendum on dual citizenship in Lithuania

On 18 October 2018,  the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania adopted the Resolution on calling the mandatory referendum regarding the amending of Article 12 of the Constitution that defines the acquisition of citizenship.

The referendum will take place on 12 and 26 May 2019. The two days for voting are proposed subject to the fact that the provisions of the Constitution may be altered only if more than a half of the citizens of Lithuania with the electoral right, who are entered into lists of voters, vote in favour thereof. The Presidential elections and elections to the European Parliament will also be planned on these days.

According to the present Article 12 of the Constitution, citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania shall be acquired by birth or on other grounds established by law, with the exception of individual cases provided for by law, no one may be a citizen of both the Republic of Lithuania and another state at the same time.

In the mandatory referendum the following amendment to Article 12 of the Constitution will be put to vote: “Citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania shall be acquired by birth or on other grounds established by the Constitutional Law. The citizens of the Republic of Lithuania by origin shall retain their citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania when they acquire the citizenship of the state that meets the criteria of European and transatlantic integration pursued by of the Republic of Lithuania. In other cases, no one may be a citizen of both the Republic of Lithuania and another state at the same time, with the exception of individual cases provided for by the Constitutional Law. The procedure for the acquisition and loss of citizenship shall be established by the Constitutional Law.”

The Seimas working group on the referendum concerning dual citizenship decided to recommend to the Seimas to recognize member states of the European Union, as well as states belonging to NATO and OECD organizations as countries that meet the European and transatlantic integration criteria. The European and transatlantic integration criteria of the states will be established in the Constitutional Law on Citizenship.

If enough votes are gathered by the referendum, the amendments to the Constitution adopted will come into force on 01 January 2020.

MIGRATION LAW CENTER