Lithuania intra-company transfer permit (ICT)

The host in Lithuania must be a representative office or branch of an undertaking established outside the EU, or a company in the same group. Three categories exist. A manager will direct the host or one of its units, supervise staff and take management decisions, has the necessary qualifications and experience, and has worked for the group outside the EU for at least six months before the transfer. A specialist has specialised knowledge essential to the host’s activities, techniques or management, together with a high level of qualification, and also six months of prior group employment. A trainee employee holds a university degree, has a traineeship contract for career development or training in business techniques, is paid as a transferee and has worked for the group for at least three months.

The application includes the employment contract with the foreign company and an assignment letter stating the duration, the host address, the position, the remuneration and the promise that you will be transferred back at the end.

You start in MIGRIS (migracija.lt): choose your citizenship, the permit you want and the ground, fill in the form and upload scans. When asked where to lodge, choose the external service provider and then book a visit separately with VFS Global. Since 1 December 2024 a VFS branch accepts residence permit and national visa applications from citizens of the country where it is located, and from other nationals only on a few grounds such as family reunification, highly qualified work or studies. VFS charges its own service fee, which includes delivery of the finished card to the centre.

Every applicant must meet the general conditions of the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners: health insurance (at least EUR 5,792 under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rules, unless you are covered by compulsory insurance as an employee), sufficient means of subsistence, a written pledge to declare your residence at a home with at least 7 square metres per adult, a list of the countries you visited or lived in, and a detailed questionnaire on your ties with people in Lithuania and with foreign security or military bodies. Children from the age of two attend in person. Your passport must be valid three months longer than the permit, or the card will be issued for a shorter period.

The Migration Department decides. Its standard time is three months in the general procedure and 1.5 months in the urgent one, with shorter legal limits for some grounds. The approved card is sent to VFS, and you travel to Lithuania with the card itself, so no separate visa is needed. Within one month of collecting the permit you declare your place of residence.

The Migration Department must decide within one month for managers and specialists and within two months for trainee employees. If you are already legally in Lithuania when you apply, you can start working at the host while the application is pending. The total transfer, including periods in other EU states, may not exceed three years for managers and specialists or one year for trainees. After reaching the maximum you must leave for a non-EU country and can lodge a new ICT application only three months after departure.

If the transfer also involves other EU states, declare those planned moves when applying; you lodge the application in Lithuania if you are transferred there first or for the longest period.

A renewal is applied for in MIGRIS and lodged at the Migration Department in Lithuania. Since 16 November 2024 the application may be filed no earlier than six months before the current permit expires, and the Migration Department advises lodging it at least four months ahead; the legal time limit for a renewal decision is two months. A pending application does not let you stay or work once the old permit has expired. Renewal is possible while you still meet the ICT conditions and the total stays within the maximum duration.

The two-year residence requirement for sponsors does not apply to ICT permit holders, so your spouse and children can come with you. Their applications can be lodged together with yours and examined at the same time, and family members of ICT managers and specialists are also decided within the shorter time limit.