Lithuania, which has taken in tens of thousands of refugees since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, plans to continue supporting Ukrainian IDPs. Find out how long temporary protection in this country has been extended and what will change for Ukrainians in the near future

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According to the Department of Migration in Lithuania, temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees has been extended until 4 March 2026. The reason for this was the relevant decision of the Council of Europe.

According to the Lithuanian government, 30-40 new applications for temporary residence permits are received daily from Ukrainian refugees. Currently, 44,921 people have this status in Lithuania. It is valid until 4 March 2025 - at the end of this year, refugees will have to update their data, as they did last year. Ukrainians who come to Lithuania now receive temporary protection immediately until March 2026.

As explained by the Lithuanian authorities, the extension of the deadline will reduce the administrative burden on Ukrainians and employees of the Migration Department, as well as facilitate the management of the flow of applications before March 2025.

Conditions of temporary protection in Lithuania

Thus, with the extension of the status, Ukrainian refugees in Lithuania will be able to get a job without the mandatory Lithuanian language test.

Also, the period during which ‘the requirements for the state language proficiency are not applied to the employment of aliens under temporary protection in Lithuania’ has been increased from two to three years after the granting of temporary protection.

Lithuania will continue to offer Ukrainians the opportunity to learn Lithuanian through activities financed by the Employment Service or through the system of individual learning accounts, according to information from the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.

In mid-March 2023, the Lithuanian Language Inspectorate announced that from March 2024 it would start to check the level of Lithuanian language skills among Ukrainian refugees working in the country, in accordance with legal requirements.

It was noted that if employers were unable to provide language examination certificates for their employees, the language inspectorate and municipal language authorities would take action. Such plans have met with criticism from the government.

The head of the State Language Inspectorate, Audrius Volotka, says that Ukrainian refugees must learn Lithuanian within 24 months of arrival. This will help them in their adaptation and job search. At the same time, it has been reported that Ukrainians receive letters from the Migration Department reminding them of the need to comply with the language law.

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Labour conditions for Ukrainians in Lithuania

Already from 1 September, employment conditions for Ukrainian refugees in Lithuania will change - now migrants without temporary protection will be able to get a job only if they have a residence permit. 

At the same time, there are exceptions. They apply to:

- foreigners who enjoy a visa-free regime;

- foreigners who hold a valid Schengen visa;

- foreigners who have national visas issued under unforeseen circumstances;

- foreigners who apply for a residence permit because of work requiring high qualifications;

- foreigners applying for a residence permit for humanitarian reasons.

By the way, we wrote that Lithuania stops free education for students from Ukraine. For more details about this - read at the link.

We remind you! The Lithuanian government announced that it would continue to support Ukrainian students in the new academic year. What benefits refugees can count on and what conditions, read here.

Want to know more? Read the latest news and useful materials about Ukraine and the world in the News section.

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