Ignas Brazdeikis, a Lithuanian-born Canadian professional basketball player, has had his Lithuanian citizenship restored.
The 22-year-old athlete was allowed to keep both nationalities due to amendments to Lithuania's citizenship law.
“His citizenship has been restored because the amendments allowing children who were born Lithuanian citizens, but later acquired the citizenship of another state, to keep both citizenships came into force on January 1,” commented Evelina Gudžinskaitė, head of the Migration Department.
The amendments to the Law on Citizenship allow minors who acquired their Lithuanian citizenship by birth to claim their right to dual citizenship regardless of when they acquired the citizenship of another country.
Before that, the right to dual citizenship could only be claimed by minors who acquired their dual citizenship by birth.
Brazdeikis was born in Lithuania's second-biggest city Kaunas in 1999, but migrated with his parents to the US when he was three. He later moved to Canada and was granted Canadian citizenship.
Last week, the player signed a 10-day contract with the NBA's Orlando Magic.
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