Lithuania mulls extending validity of foreigner’s passports as Minsk no longer issues documents abroad

The Interior Ministry will propose to the Seimas to extend the validity period of the foreigner’s passports issued in Lithuania in response to Minsk’s decision not to allow Belarusians to renew their identity documents abroad.

“Foreigner’s passports have been issued for years but there is a certain limitation in that the document is issued for one year. Perhaps the term could be longer, the Seimas could extend it. We would make such a proposal to them,” Deputy Interior Minister Arnoldas Abramavičius told BNS on Monday.

According to him, the ministry proposes to extend the validity of the document to three years.

A foreigner’s passport is a travel document issued by the Migration Department for a foreigner with the right to reside in Lithuania who, for objective reasons, is unable to obtain a travel document from one’s country of origin.

“We are only talking about people fleeing the regime, we are not talking about truck drivers or other workers,” Abramavičius said.

However, Evelina Gudzinskaitė, head of the Migration Department, told BNS that not only the opposition figures but also foreigners working and living in Lithuania would be able to use this right.

“Not only those who came with the mediation of the Foreign Ministry and received residence permits on humanitarian grounds but also foreigners who have come to work and know that they cannot return to Belarus may need foreigner’s passports,” she said.

According to her, the Migration Department expects a higher number of Belarusians applying for the foreigner’s passport, as well as an increased workload for its specialists.

Belarusians living abroad have until recently been able to get new passports at the country’s diplomatic missions.

However, a decree published last week states that from now on, Belarusians can only get a new passport in “consular services attached to their last registered place of residence” on Belarusian territory.

Tens of thousands of Belarusians fled the country in 2020 after Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko brutally suppressed mass protests against his rule.