Licensed recruitment of skilled Filipino professionals for Lithuanian employers. Your company is the direct employer — we run selection in Manila, the Lithuanian permit process and the Philippine exit formalities end to end. From 1 worker.
Lithuania's temporary residence permit for work is quick on paper and rationed in practice — the 2026 quota of 24,706 was exhausted in September. Since 25 September 2026 the two governments run regular consultations on Filipino workers under a Joint Communiqué signed by the Ministry of Social Security and Labour and the DMW, which named the Philippines a priority source country. There is no labour-market test since 1 January 2025 — the quota and, above it, the salary lines decide. These guides cover the permit, the quota and the 2027 filing plan, the shortage list that was abolished and the high-value-added list that still matters, MWO Prague and VFS Manila, and the sectors that hire: CNC and metal, construction, transport, warehousing, shipyards, furniture.
Every Lithuanian project runs on the same backbone: you define the roles, headcount and start date; our own DMW-licensed agency in Manila, Prime Search, sources and trade-tests candidates; you approve the shortlist (on-site or online); and we manage the Lithuanian permit process under your power of attorney while the Philippine side — contract verification, medical, pre-departure orientation and the Overseas Employment Certificate — runs in parallel. The employment contract is signed and verified before departure; your new employee lands, completes local onboarding and clocks in.
The Lithuanian specifics below are the part that makes Lithuania different from every other market we serve.
Temporary residence permit on the basis of work (annual quota; above-quota only at 1.2 × the average wage or 1 × for high-value-added shortage professions). Lithuania is quick on paper and rationed in practice. The worker holds a temporary residence permit on the basis of work, applied for through the Migration Department's MIGRIS system — since 1 July 2024 the residence permit is the standard authorisation to work, a visa no longer replaces it. There is no labour-market test: since 1 January 2025 the Employment Service issues no decision on compliance with labour-market needs and its shortage list by economic activity no longer exists; the worker must hold a qualification matching the job and at least one year of relevant experience in the last three years, or be paid at least the national average gross wage. The constraint is the annual quota, set by order of the Minister of Social Security and Labour within a cap of 1.4 % of the permanent population and used first come, first served: 24,706 permits for 2026, all used by early September 2026 — the Migration Department confirmed the quota exhausted. Until the 2027 quota opens on 1 January, a work-based permit is issued only if the employer commits to a gross monthly salary of at least €2,893.68 (1.2 × the latest published average wage of €2,411.40) or, for professions on the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation's list of high-value-added shortage professions, at least €2,411.40; an additional sector quota of up to 20 % of the employees covered by a sector collective agreement can be proposed by its parties. The employer submits a mediation letter in MIGRIS (state fee €50); Filipino workers submit the permit application and biometrics at the VFS Global centre in the Philippines (state fee €160 for work plus the centre's service fee); the Migration Department decides within four months by law, two months on the expedited track — typically about three months in practice, less when the file is complete and quota is available. Permits run for the contract period, up to two years, and are extended in Lithuania.
Labour-market test: None since 1 January 2025 — the Employment Service no longer issues a decision on compliance with labour-market needs for work-based residence permits, and its shortage list by economic activity was abolished. Every new work-based permit counts against the annual quota; once the quota is exhausted only the 1.2 × average-wage and high-value-added-profession routes remain.
Shortage occupations: One list matters today. The Employment Service shortage list that used to waive the labour-market decision was abolished on 1 January 2025 together with the decision itself. The national list of high-value-added professions in shortage, approved by the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation, lets an employer file above the exhausted quota at 1 × the average wage (€2,411.40 in 2026) instead of 1.2 × (€2,893.68); we check the specific occupation against the version in force before quoting.
Deploying a Filipino worker abroad is regulated by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). MWO Prague has jurisdiction for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — employer accreditation and contract verification. The verified contract, together with the job order approved by the DMW, allows the worker to obtain the Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) — the exit clearance without which no Filipino worker can legally leave for a job abroad. Pre-employment orientation, medical examination at a DOH-accredited medical clinic authorised to examine overseas Filipino workers and pre-departure orientation complete the sequence. Because we operate the licensed agency ourselves, this runs in parallel with the Lithuanian permit rather than after it.
Typical gate-to-gate time for Lithuania is 3–4 months from brief to arrival when quota is available; files prepared in November–December arrive in March–April after the January quota opens from signed engagement to the first arrival, driven mainly by the annual quota — exhausted by early September in 2026 — and, above quota, the €2,893.68 wage line. Sourcing and trade testing usually take two to four weeks and are not on the critical path. We give you a written timeline for your specific role before you commit.
Sectors where Lithuanian employers most often hire Filipino workers through us:
Our contractual partner is the employer, and it is the employer we invoice for the service. You receive an individual offer for Lithuania covering sourcing, trade testing, documentation, the permit process and arrival support — there is no price list, because volumes, roles and the Lithuanian route differ from project to project. Direct employment means the worker's wage is paid by you under your Lithuanian contract; there is no intermediary employer.
A Lithuanian employer briefs us on roles and headcount. Within two to four weeks we present trade-tested candidates from Manila with video assessments; the employer interviews online and approves. We file the temporary residence permit on the basis of work under power of attorney while Prime Search completes the DMW documentation. The employment contracts are signed and MWO-verified before departure; on arrival the workers complete registration and local onboarding and start on the floor — with our team reachable for the first months of integration. Whether the project is one specialist or a full shift, the mechanics are identical.
Yes — since 25 September 2026. Lithuania's Ministry of Social Security and Labour and the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers (Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac) signed a Joint Communiqué establishing regular consultations on the employment and protection of Filipino workers and information exchange on labour-market needs, conditions, recruitment procedures, illegal recruitment and trafficking; the minister named the Philippines among the countries Lithuania will turn to first. About 4,800 Filipinos were employed under contracts in Lithuania on 1 September 2026, mostly in transport and storage, construction and manufacturing.
Yes. The Migration Department confirmed in September 2026 that all 24,706 permits for 2026 were used (20,731 issued, 4,573 under review at the end of July). Until 1 January 2027 a work-based permit is issued only at €2,893.68 gross a month or more, or at €2,411.40 for professions on the high-value-added shortage list, or under an additional sector quota if one is set.
Recruit and test in November–December, have the MWO Prague accreditation, the mediation letters and the contracts ready, and file on the first days of January. In 2026 the quota was gone by early September; filing late means waiting a year.
No. Since 1 January 2025 the Employment Service issues no decision on compliance with labour-market needs for work-based residence permits and its shortage list no longer exists. The only list with an effect is the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation's high-value-added list, which opens the above-quota route at €2,411.40 instead of €2,893.68.
Yes — drivers are a traditional shortage profession in Lithuania, subject to licence conversion and Code 95 on arrival; in September 2026 one transport company recruited 117 drivers in a single five-day round.
At the VFS Global application centre in the Philippines, which takes the MIGRIS application and biometrics for the Migration Department; the state fee for a work-based permit is €160, plus the centre's service fee, and the employer's mediation letter in MIGRIS carries a €50 state fee. Once granted, the permit card is collected at the same VFS centre before the worker travels.
Generally yes in manufacturing and logistics; we brief candidates on basic Lithuanian safety terms.