Lithuania is one of the quickest EU markets on paper — electronic filing, a shortage list that waives the labour-market decision, decisions in weeks — and one of the most rationed in practice: the 2026 quota of 24,706 permits was gone by September. This page is the route from brief to first shift, built around the January 2027 window.
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 practical consequence: recruit and test in November and December, have the Employment Service decision, the MWO Prague accreditation and the contracts ready, and file on the day the new quota opens. Files prepared in January are submitted in March, when the quota is already half used. If any role is paid at or above €2,893.68 — typically CNC setter-programmers, maintenance engineers, team leaders — that role can be filed immediately, outside the quota.
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.
Accommodation for the first period is expected and decides retention more than anything else; we brief candidates on the exact housing, shift pattern and net pay before they sign, so nothing is renegotiated after arrival.
The two governments now talk to each other about this. On 25 September 2026 Lithuania's Ministry of Social Security and Labour and the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers, led by Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac, signed a Joint Communiqué that sets up regular consultations on the employment and protection of Filipino workers and an exchange of information on Lithuania's labour-market needs, employment conditions and recruitment procedures, as well as on illegal recruitment and trafficking; the minister named the Philippines among the countries Lithuania will turn to first for workers from outside the EU, and said non-EU workers must get the same conditions and pay as Lithuanians. About 4,800 Filipino citizens were employed under work contracts in Lithuania on 1 September 2026, most of them in transport and storage, construction and manufacturing. For an employer this means a corridor both states have chosen to manage — and that the employer-pays principle and verified contracts are the expected standard, not our preference.
Sourcing from Prime Search's candidate base — 1.5 million followers on Facebook — and practical trade tests at the Makati facilities: a CNC machinist runs a programme, a welder welds coupons to your WPS, a driver drives, a drywall installer builds a partition. You see the test live or recorded, interview the shortlist and select. Nobody is presented who has not passed the test for your role.
English carries the first months on most Lithuanian industrial sites; we brief candidates on basic Lithuanian safety terms before departure.
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.
Yes. The Migration Department confirmed in September 2026 that all 24,706 permits were used — 20,731 issued and 4,573 under review at the end of July. Until 1 January 2027 only the €2,893.68 and €2,411.40 routes remain, or an additional sector quota if one is set.
From one. The quota is national, not per company; what matters is that your file is complete on the day the window opens.
No. The permit is issued to the worker for employment with your company; we run selection in Manila through our DMW-licensed agency and prepare the Lithuanian file with you.
Three to four months from brief to arrival when quota is available — the January-filing plan puts a November brief on site in March–April 2027.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.