Fast-track and urgent processing in Lithuania

State fees are paid with payment code 5740 to one of the State Tax Inspectorate accounts listed by the Migration Department. Applicants abroad pay through the external service provider, which collects the Lithuanian state fee together with its own service fee.

Once the permit card is ready in Lithuania, you can ask for it to be delivered by courier to an address of your choice in Lithuania for EUR 9.99 per document. The courier option is available for temporary residence permits in both the general and the urgent procedure, but the delivery time is not counted in the 3-month or 1.5-month processing period. Cards issued through VFS are sent to the centre where you applied.

You choose the urgent procedure when filling in the residence permit application in MIGRIS and pay the higher state fee. Faster handling still depends on a complete file: if the Migration Department asks for missing documents, the time limit stops until they arrive. Grounds that already have short legal limits, such as the EU Blue Card or researchers with one month, gain less from the urgent option.

The urgent procedure is a Migration Department option for residence permits; it does not apply to Schengen visas. Decisions on Schengen visas follow the EU rule of 15 calendar days, up to 45 in individual cases. In justified urgent cases the visa authority may accept an application lodged later than 15 days before the trip, but there is no extra fee for this and no guaranteed time.

The urgent order is listed in the Migration Department’s official fee table. For issuing or renewing a temporary residence permit it costs EUR 320 instead of EUR 160; for a permanent residence permit also EUR 320 instead of EUR 160; for personalising a new temporary residence permit card or renewing a permanent residence card EUR 90 instead of EUR 45. The reduced EUR 80 fee for students is listed for the general procedure only.

According to the Migration Department, temporary residence permits are issued within three months in the general procedure and within 1.5 months in the urgent procedure. The time a courier or the VFS delivery needs to bring the card is not included. For start-up founders the programme guide gives one month in the general procedure and 15 days urgent.

The urgent procedure is most useful for permits with the standard three-month limit, such as the work-based permit, family reunification or the business-activity permit, and for renewals that were filed late. Renewals can be lodged no earlier than six months before the current permit expires, and an application that is still pending after the old permit has expired does not give the right to stay or work; paying for urgent handling can help keep that gap closed. Planning ahead remains cheaper: filing at least four months before expiry, as the Migration Department advises, normally avoids the need to pay double.