Lithuanian Citizenship or Permanent Residence: How the Requirements Differ

Lithuanian citizenship and permanent residence per two laws: we compare years of residence, exams, other citizenship and counting. The authority alone decides.

Fluent is an unofficial learning service, not a state body. This article is a reference overview, not legal advice: NŠA and the Migration Department set the rules and dates, so check the official pages.

Where this comes from

This article retells two laws that were read on the official portal e-tar.lt:

The Law on Citizenship (Lithuanian title Lietuvos Respublikos pilietybės įstatymas): Articles 7, 18, 19, 22 and 26.
The Law on the Legal Status of Aliens (Įstatymas dėl užsieniečių teisinės padėties): Article 53.

«Permanent residence» here means the permit to reside permanently in Lithuania, in Lithuanian «leidimas nuolat gyventi». We retell only the parts that were read. We did not read the rest of the laws and do not retell it. Both laws say citizenship «may be granted» and the permit «may be issued»: whether a condition is met and whether an exception fits you is decided by the authority, not by this article.

In short

For citizenship by naturalisation the law names residence for «the last 10 years» (Citizenship law, Art. 18(1)(1)).
For the permit on ground 8 of Aliens law Art. 53(1): lawful residence without interruption for the last 5 years.
The Citizenship law names the state-language exam and the Constitution basics exam; for the permit they are named for grounds 8–8-2 of Art. 53(1).
A lawful source of subsistence is named in the Citizenship law; this article does not cover a subsistence rule for the permit.
The Government sets the exam rules and the documents confirming a pass; for fees and documents see the official pages.

The two laws side by side

How to read the table: «Not covered» only means that we did not read or do not retell that rule. It does not mean there is no rule.

What we compare	Citizenship	Permanent residence
Years of residence	Last 10 years (Art. 18(1)(1))	Last 5 years lawfully, no break (Art. 53(1)(8))
Spouse of a citizen	7 years together, both exams (Art. 19(1))	The grounds of Art. 53(1) other than point 8 were not read; conditions not covered
Exams	Language and Constitution (Art. 18(1)(3)–(4))	«May be issued if» both passed, grounds 8–8-2 (Art. 53(6))
Source of subsistence	Lawful source (Art. 18(1)(5))	Not covered
Other citizenship	Condition in point 6, see section below	Not mentioned in the parts of Art. 53 that were read
Art. 22 circumstances	Four cases, see section below	Not covered
Validity	Art. 18 sets no term	5 years (Art. 53(4))
Counting and absences	No such rule in the text of Art. 18 that was read	Rules exist, Art. 53(8-1), (9), (10), (11)
Exemptions from the exams	Art. 18(4), see the separate article	Art. 53(8), see the separate article

We do not repeat the exemptions here: they are covered in Who Is Exempt From the Lithuanian Constitution and Language Exams.

Citizenship: what Article 18 names

Citizenship law, Art. 18(1): Lithuanian citizenship may be granted to a person who meets all of these conditions:

For the last 10 years the person «teisėtai nuolat gyvena» (lives lawfully and permanently) in Lithuania. We quote the phrase. We do not equate it with the permanent residence permit or say the permit is required for citizenship.
At the time of the application and at the time of the decision the person has the right to reside permanently in Lithuania.
The person has passed the state-language exam.
The person has passed the Constitution basics exam.
The person has a lawful source of subsistence.
The person is stateless, or a citizen of a state whose law makes the person lose that citizenship when acquiring Lithuanian citizenship, or declares in writing the will to renounce the other citizenship once Lithuanian citizenship is granted.
None of the circumstances named in Art. 22 of the Citizenship law applies.

Spouse of a Lithuanian citizen

Citizenship law, Art. 19(1): a person married to a Lithuanian citizen and living together with the spouse lawfully and permanently in Lithuania for the last 7 years may be granted citizenship if the person:

has the right to reside permanently in Lithuania;
has passed the state-language exam;
has passed the Constitution basics exam;
meets the condition about other citizenship (in the text we read it is not quoted in full: see the law);
has none of the circumstances named in Art. 22.

Parts 2 and 3 of the same article set other cases. We do not retell them: see the text of the law.

When citizenship is not granted

Citizenship law, Art. 22: citizenship by naturalisation, by the simplified procedure and by exception is not granted, and not restored, to persons who:

prepared, attempted or committed international crimes (aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes);
prepared, attempted or committed criminal acts against the Republic of Lithuania;
before arriving to live in Lithuania were sentenced abroad to imprisonment for an intentional crime that Lithuanian law treats as very serious, or were sentenced in Lithuania for a very serious crime, whether or not the record is expunged;
by law have no right to receive a document confirming the right to reside permanently in Lithuania.

Other citizenship

Citizenship law, Art. 7: a Lithuanian citizen may also be a citizen of another state if at least one of the conditions in Art. 7 applies. There are 11. For example: both citizenships were acquired at birth; the person was deported from occupied Lithuania or left Lithuania before 11 March 1990, and their descendants; Lithuanian citizenship was acquired by exception while holding another; Lithuanian citizenship was acquired with refugee status.

Art. 26(1): a Lithuanian citizen who acquires another citizenship loses Lithuanian citizenship from the day of acquiring the other one, except the persons in Art. 7 points 1–5, 7, 9 and 11. Art. 26(2): the person must notify in writing, within 2 months of acquiring the other citizenship, the authorised institution of the Government or a Lithuanian diplomatic or consular mission.

Whether your case falls under Art. 7 is decided by the authority.

Permanent residence: what Article 53 names

Aliens law, Art. 53(1): the permit to reside permanently («leidimas nuolat gyventi») may be issued to a foreigner on the grounds listed in that part. One of them, point 8: the foreigner lived lawfully in Lithuania without interruption for the last 5 years holding a document that gives or confirms the right to reside in Lithuania under this law, a national visa, or a document confirming the right to stay in Lithuania (in the case named in Art. 22-1(1)(5) of the law).

The same part has other grounds: we did not read them and do not cover them. Here we cover only point 8 in detail.

Exams. Art. 53(6): the permit on grounds 8, 8-1 and 8-2 of part 1 «gali būti išduotas, jeigu» (may be issued if) the foreigner passed the state-language exam and the Constitution basics exam. The Government sets the order. For the other grounds the parts we read set no such condition. We do not conclude from this that exams are or are not needed for them: ask the Migration Department.

Validity. Art. 53(4): the permit is issued and exchanged for 5 years. Part 4 makes one exception to the 5 years, for the case in part 2 point 6: the permit is exchanged for the validity period of the permit held. We did not read part 2 point 6 itself.

Conditions from Art. 26. Art. 53(3): a person who is issued the permit must meet the conditions of Art. 26(1) points 1–3 of this law. We did not read that article and do not retell its conditions. The Minister of the Interior sets how the lawfully lived period is determined and counted.

How the 5 years are counted for ground 8

These are the counting rules of Art. 53 for ground 8 of part 1:

Part 8-1: periods when the purpose of coming was short-term and tied to temporary non-permanent activity are not counted.
Part 9: of the time lived on a temporary permit issued under Art. 40(1)(6) and Art. 46, only half is counted. This does not apply to a foreigner who graduated in Lithuania and got a higher-education qualification.
Part 10: time outside Lithuania does not interrupt the period if each absence is no longer than 6 months in a row and all absences over the 5 years add up to no more than 10 months. For other grounds the law may set different limits: we did not read them. The duration of business trips is not counted into the longest permitted time abroad if the person's permanent residence stays in Lithuania.
Part 11: the time of serving a prison sentence imposed by a court interrupts the period.

For citizenship. The text of Art. 18 of the Citizenship law that we read has no such absence rule. We do not conclude that there are no limits: ask the Migration Department.

What next

Art. 22 of the Citizenship law also names the simplified procedure and the procedure by exception. We did not read their conditions and do not cover them: see the law and ask the authority.

The Government sets the exam rules and the documents confirming a pass (Citizenship law Art. 18(3), Aliens law Art. 53(6)). For fees and documents see the official NŠA page.

Prepare for the Constitution exam in Fluent's practice section and in the Constitution programme. How the exams themselves run is covered in the articles below.

Checked: 10 November 2026 against official sources.

Law on Citizenship XI-1196, edition in force from 2024-01-01
Law on the Legal Status of Aliens IX-2206, edition in force from 1 November to 31 December 2026 (after that date check the edition in force)

Official sources:

Lithuanian Citizenship or Permanent Residence: How the Requirements Differ

Lithuanian Citizenship or Permanent Residence: How the Requirements Differ

Where this comes from

In short

The two laws side by side

Citizenship: what Article 18 names

Spouse of a Lithuanian citizen

When citizenship is not granted

Other citizenship

Permanent residence: what Article 53 names

How the 5 years are counted for ground 8

What next

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