Lithuania's temporary residence permit for work: quota, salary lines and procedure

How the quota works

The Government sets one quota a year for third-country nationals coming to work; it covers all professions and sectors and is used in order of filing. Once it is exhausted the Migration Department issues work-based permits only where the employer commits to a salary of at least 1.2 times the latest published average monthly gross wage — €2,893.68 against the €2,411.40 average published on 12 May 2026 — or, for professions on the national list of high-value-added professions in shortage, at least the average wage itself. Parties to a sector collective agreement may propose an additional quota of up to 20 % of the employees the agreement covers.

The procedure

• Employer side: employment contract or binding mediation letter for at least six months; company documents; Employment Service decision that the vacancy meets labour-market needs — not needed for occupations on the shortage list.
• Worker side: application through MIGRIS, documents and biometrics at the VFS Global centre in the Philippines, state fee €160 for the work category; applications should be lodged at least two months before the planned start.
• Decision by the Migration Department within four months, two on the expedited track; in practice weeks when the file is complete and the quota has room.
• Entry and card: the worker travels once the permit is approved, collects the residence permit card in Lithuania, registers the address; the employer registers the employment with Sodra before the first working day.
• Extension: filed in Lithuania before expiry; the salary and quota rules in force at that time apply.

What changed in 2024–2026

From 1 July 2024 the residence permit became the standard work authorisation and the national visa route for work was closed. In 2025 and 2026 the quota became binding in practice — exhausted in September 2026 — and the above-quota salary lines became the only alternative. From 15 September 2026 the Migration Department monitors non-priority applications lodged through external providers; applications from the Philippines are unaffected but should be complete at lodging.

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

• Is a work permit also needed?

  Not in the standard case: the residence permit on the basis of work carries the right to work for the employer named in it. The Employment Service decision replaces the old work-permit step for occupations not on the shortage list.

• Can the worker change employer?

  Only with a new permit or an amendment filed with the Migration Department; the quota and salary rules apply again. We write the offer so that the worker has no reason to look.

• Who pays the state fee?

  The €160 state fee and the VFS service fee are costs of the application; in our programmes the employer bears them — recruitment is paid by the employer, not by the workers.