Lithuania startup visa for entrepreneurs

The legal test is set in the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners: an institution authorised by the Minister of the Economy and Innovation must confirm in writing that you are developing a start-up you intend to run in Lithuania, that the business has high innovative potential, that you have the qualifications, resources and business plan to pursue it, and that your presence in Lithuania is essential to the company. That institution is Startup Lithuania, part of the Innovation Agency, which runs Startup Visa Lithuania. A start-up may have at most four foreign participants.

The programme describes itself as offering lower capital and hiring requirements than other business migration routes. It charges no fee for its services and warns that people pretending to administer the programme and asking for payment are fraudsters.

Each applicant must prove that they can support themselves for at least a year. The programme guide explained this with the 2025 minimum monthly wage of EUR 1,038, giving EUR 12,456 for 12 months; with the 2026 minimum wage of EUR 1,153 the same calculation gives EUR 13,836. You state the source of the funds and attach evidence such as bank statements. The guide recommends health insurance of at least EUR 30,000 valid for 12 months in the EU and covering repatriation.

Documents issued by state authorities, such as a criminal record certificate, must be apostilled or legalised; other documents such as bank statements must be notarised, and anything not in Lithuanian or English needs a certified translation. You do not need an address in Lithuania when applying: you can choose to declare your residence within one month of collecting the permit.

1. Submit the online application at startupvisalithuania.com with details of the founders, team, product and business plan, plus a pitch deck. 2. Pitch the idea in a 30-minute video interview with questions and answers. 3. After the preliminary check, a committee of experts makes the final assessment. 4. With the confirmation letter you apply for the temporary residence permit; the letter does not guarantee the permit, which is decided by the Migration Department. 5. After receiving the permit you register the company and start operating.

In MIGRIS the path is: choose your citizenship, temporary residence permit, legal activity, “I am a start-up”. From abroad you choose the external service provider and book a VFS Global branch separately. The programme guide gives one month for a general decision and 15 days for an urgent one, at EUR 160 or EUR 320.

You must establish the start-up and begin the activities in its founding documents within 120 days of the permit being issued, and inform the Startup Visa team within three working days of registration, attaching the registration certificate and the founding agreement or shareholder list. A founder joining a start-up that others have already set up must become a participant within 60 days. The programme recommends a private limited company (UAB), which needs EUR 1,000 of share capital, or a small partnership (MB), which needs none.

Family members usually receive a two-year permit renewable for three years, matching yours, and the two-year sponsor residence rule does not apply to start-up founders. A spouse does not need a work permit to work in Lithuania. To renew your own permit for three years, the authorised institution must again confirm that you meet the start-up conditions. If the start-up stops operating you must leave unless you get a permit on another ground.