The 2027 quota filing plan: recruit in November, file in January, start in spring

Why January decides the year

The constraint is the annual quota. All 24,706 permits for 2026 were used by early September; until the 2027 quota opens on 1 January a work-based permit is issued only at €2,893.68 gross a month or more (1.2 × the average wage of €2,411.40), or at €2,411.40 for professions on the national list of high-value-added shortage professions. In 2026 the quota lasted until September; employers whose files are ready in the first days of January get their permits, the rest wait.

The quota is national and first-come, first-served. A file submitted on 3 January is decided under the 2027 quota; the same file submitted in March competes with everything filed before it. For a spring start the brief has to be in by mid-November.

The calendar

• Weeks 1–2 (early November): brief per role — machines, controls, materials, shifts, gross salary, housing. We map roles to the two lists and tell you which can be filed now and which wait for January.
• Weeks 2–5: sourcing and practical trade tests in Makati; interviews with you on site or by video; signed offers with the Lithuanian terms.
• Weeks 4–7 (December): Employment Service decision where needed; MWO Prague accreditation of your company (commercial-register extract, recruitment agreement, job order, master contract, power of attorney); VFS appointments reserved; document packs complete.
• Week 8 (first days of January): MIGRIS applications submitted; biometrics at VFS in the Philippines; state fee €160 per worker.
• Weeks 9–14: decisions; MWO contract verification, medical, pre-departure orientation and Overseas Employment Certificate in parallel.
• Weeks 14–18 (March–April): arrivals, residence permit cards, Sodra registration before the first working day, onboarding.

What can be filed now

Roles the employer pays at or above €2,893.68 gross a month — CNC setter-programmers, maintenance and automation technicians, team leaders, engineers — go in immediately, outside the quota. Roles on the national list of high-value-added shortage professions go in at €2,411.40. Everything else waits for January; we tell you which is which on the first call, not after three weeks of sourcing.

What the employer commits to

Pay must be at least the statutory minimum — €1,153 gross a month in 2026 — or the collective-agreement or market rate for the role, and the employer registers the employment with Sodra before the first working day; above the exhausted quota the €2,893.68 / €2,411.40 lines apply instead.

The Philippine side

Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office in Prague, which has jurisdiction for Lithuania, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. The Philippine ban on direct hiring applies; the employer is always your company, directly — the Lithuanian permit is issued to the worker for employment with you, not with an agency.

Everything here is subject to the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens as amended, the annual quota resolution, the Employment Service shortage list and the Migration Department's practice in force.

Frequently asked questions

• What if the 2027 quota is smaller?

  The figure is set by Government resolution; we watch the December announcement. Whatever the number, the first-days-of-January rule holds, and a complete file is the only lever an employer controls.

• Can we file some workers now and the rest in January?

  Yes — that is the normal pattern: higher-paid roles now at €2,893.68, operators and tradesmen in January.

• What happens to a file that misses the quota?

  It is not refused; it waits for an additional sector quota (up to 20 % of employees covered by a sector collective agreement) or for the next year. We plan so that this does not happen.