Lithuania researcher visa (teacher and researcher permit)

You need an employment contract as a teacher or researcher with a Lithuanian higher education and research institution. For researchers, the institution must confirm that it has assessed the purpose and duration of the research and your qualifications, and that it has the money to carry out the work. The researcher’s contract has to state the title or purpose of the research, both parties’ undertakings, the start and end dates and any planned mobility to other EU countries.

If you already hold a research permit or national visa from another EU country, include it with the application.

The general state fee is EUR 160, or EUR 320 for urgent handling, and VFS adds its own service fee. The EUR 50 fee that employers pay for a mediation letter does not apply when the foreigner comes to work as a lecturer or researcher. If you first need a national visa, researchers with a doctorate, or with a degree giving access to doctoral studies, who work under a contract with a research institution, and foreigners coming to teach are exempt from the EUR 140 visa fee.

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.

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. The permit is renewed while you continue research and still meet the general conditions. When the job ends you must leave unless you obtain a permit on another ground; researchers who complete their work can apply for a one-year permit to look for work.

Your spouse or registered partner and children can lodge their applications together with yours and receive permits for the same period. The usual condition that the sponsor has lived in Lithuania for two years does not apply to teachers and researchers. Family members of working foreigners who hold a temporary residence permit have been covered by compulsory health insurance since 1 July 2024.