Six people have been stripped of their Lithuanian citizenship after it emerged that they concealed having become Russian citizens, the Migration Department said on Wednesday.
Checks revealed that the six Lithuanian citizens had not only concealed the fact of acquiring Russian citizenship, but they also had no right to dual citizenship.
According to the Migration Department, none of the six individuals cooperated or responded to requests to provide documents proving their right to dual citizenship. As a result, the department launched the procedure for stripping them of their Lithuanian citizenship.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Migration Department has selected almost 2,000 people for screening, based upon an analysis of travelling between Lithuania and Russia or Belarus. It turned out that 1,700 of them have dual Lithuanian-Russian or Lithuanian-Belarusian citizenship or hold temporary residence permits in those countries.
The Migration Department is still carrying out checks on several hundred people, and several dozen more might be stripped of their Lithuanian citizenship.
No cases of concealment of the acquisition of Belarusian citizenship have been recorded so far, the department pointed out.
Under the law, if a Lithuanian citizen acquires citizenship of another country, they must notify the Migration Department in writing within two months. Failing to do so caries of fine of 300–850 euros.
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