The procedures of restoring Lithuanian citizenship leaves room for abuse, according to the country's anti-corruption agency.
Foreigners can apply for the restoration of the Lithuanian passport, if they can prove that they, or their ancestors, were Lithuanian citizens prior to June 15, 1940
The Special Investigation Service (STT) said the current time limit for the Migration Department to process citizenship restoration applications, “no later than six months”, is too vague and can lead to unlawful agreements.
The law should make it possible to process applications under a fast-track procedure for an additional fee, the STT said in a press release.
The agency also recommends that the Migration Department and the Interior Ministry set specific time frames for completing citizenship restoration procedures and define a detailed procedure for verifying documented data.
According to the STT, data for citizenship restoration requests are still collected and processed manually, which prevents efficient monitoring of the progress of these applications.
It also calls on the authorities to consider automating the process of examining citizenship restoration applications as much as possible, thus minimising the human factor risk.
The Interior Ministry has two months to respond to the STT's recommendations with specific steps to address the identified risks.
LRT English
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