From September, Ukrainians without temporary protection will be able to work in Lithuania only after obtaining a residence permit, the country’s Migration Department said on Thursday.
Up until now, foreigners registered with the Migration Department who are unable to return to Ukraine and are not entitled to temporary protection have been exempted from the obligation to obtain a work permit if they met certain exception criteria.
These applied to foreigners who used the visa-free regime or had a valid Schengen visa, as well as to those who had national visas issued on the basis of unforeseen circumstances. An exception was also made for those applying for residence permits on the basis of work, highly qualified employment, or humanitarian grounds.
As of September 1, the period of facilitation ends for all these cases, except for highly qualified workers.
According to the Migration Department, this means that a foreigner who is not entitled to temporary protection but cannot return to Ukraine due to hostilities and who has applied for a temporary residence permit on work or humanitarian grounds will be entitled to work from the date of obtaining a residence permit, and not from the date of submission of their application.
These changes will not affect Ukrainian war refugees who benefit from the Temporary Protection Mechanism introduced by the European Union in Lithuania as they are issued digital residence permits by the Migration Department.
As before, newly arriving war refugees can start working as soon as they submit an application for a temporary residence permit to the Migration Department on the basis of temporary protection.
The Migration Department reminds that in cases where a foreigner has been granted temporary protection and intends to apply for a temporary residence permit on the basis of employment, they do not need to obtain a decision from the Employment Service on the compliance of the foreigner’s work with the needs of the Lithuanian labour market.
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