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government of the republic of lithuania

resolution No 79

22 January 2014

Vilnius

ON APPROVAL OF THE LITHUANIAN MIGRATION POLICY GUIDELINES

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Acting pursuant to section 346 of the Priority Measures for Implementation of the Government Programme for 2012-2016, approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in Resolution No 228 of 13 March 2013 on Approval of Priority Measures for Implementation of the Government Programme for 2012-2016, and seeking to establish the objectives, principles and direction of Lithuanian migration policy and to ensure proper control of migration processes, the Government of the Republic of Lithuanian has resolved:

1.To approve the Lithuanian Migration Policy Guidelines (as appended).

2.To establish that the provisions of the Lithuanian Immigration Policy Guidelines (hereinafter the Guidelines) approved by the present Resolution shall be complied with by ministries, Government institutions, institutions under the ministries, other national institutions accountable to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and institutions involved in adopting decisions, preparing draft legal acts, entertaining proposals to adopt legal acts of the European Union and drawing up positions of the Republic of Lithuania on these proposals.

3.To recommend to municipalities and other national institutions and agencies not accountable to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania that they act pursuant to the provisions of the Guidelines.

4.To repeal:

4.1.Resolution No 957 of 24 September 2008 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on Approval of the Description of Monitoring, Analysis and Forecasting Procedures for Economic Migration Processes and the State of Lithuanians Living Abroad, with all modifications and supplementations;

4.2.Resolution No 1317 of 3 December 2008 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on Approval of the Lithuanian Migration Policy Guidelines.

Prime MinisterAlgirdas Butkevičius

Minister of the InteriorDailis Alfonsas Barakauskas

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APPROVED BY
Resolution No 79

of the Government of the

Republic of Lithuania

of 22 January 2014

LITHUANIAN MIGRATION POLICY GUIDELINES

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

  1. The aims of the Lithuanian Migration Policy Guidelines (hereinafter the Guidelines) are to establish the key objectives, principles and direction of migration policy.These actions areaimed at ensuring themanagement of migration flow in line with national needs, in particular to solve the problems of assuring long-term structural and economic requirements and to contribute to the promotion of national development on a social and economic basis.
  2. The following issues of the migration policy will be analysed in the Guidelines: emigration,circular migration, immigration, the integration of foreigners, asylum (international protection), the fight against illegal migration, and issues related to the institutional set-up for forming and implementing the policy and the participation of relevant institutions in the development of international cooperation.
  3. The Guidelines take into account the provisions of the 2014-2020 National Progress Programme, approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in Resolution No 1482 of 28 November 2012 on Approval of the 2014-2020 National Progress Programme, and the Programme for the Creation of “Global Lithuania” (Involvement of Lithuanian Emigrants in the Life of the State) for 2011-2019, approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in Resolution No 389 of 30 March 2011 on Approval ofthe Programme for the Creation of “Global Lithuania” (Involvement of Lithuanian Emigrants in the Life of the State) for 2011-2019 of the National Progress Strategy “Lithuania’s Progress Strategy Lithuania 2030” approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in Resolution NoXI-2015 of 15 May 2012 on Approval of the National Progress Strategy “Lithuania’s Progress Strategy Lithuania 2030”, as well as the newest initiatives of the European Union (hereinafter the EU) common migration policy, as well as national demographic, economic, social, security and geopolitical conditions.
  4. Lithuania shall actively participate in formation of the common EU migration policy, and shall ensure that any decisions correspond to key national and common EU interests, contribute to security and the wellbeing of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania, and create better conditions for national and social development.
  5. The concepts used in the Guidelines are defined in the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners) and other legal acts.

PART II

FORMATION AND IMPLEMENTATION CONDITIONS FOR MIGRATION POLICY

  1. General situation:
  2. Lithuania is classified as a country with prevailing emigration:more than 0.6 million of its citizens live in foreign countries. According to data from the EU’s statistics agency (Eurostat), Lithuania has one of the region’shighest net negative international migration rates per 1000 inhabitants, at 7.1 in 2012 (compared with 7.46 in Ireland).
  3. Transit migration through Lithuania prevailed after the country regained independence. More attention was devoted to controlling migration processes, which helped to reduce illegal migration. AfterLithuanian acceded to the EU and later became part of the Schengen states, no essential changes were observed in migration tendencies, butemigration grew. A stringent immigration policy in Lithuania is one factor that determines low immigration flows.
  4. Immigration and circular migration havebeen gradually growing and emigrationdecreasing only in the past couple of years, as Lithuania has recovered from the economic crisis.
  5. Migration flows in Lithuania also change because of demographics. The population’s negative natural replacement rate means thatcitizens are ageing. Thisalters emigration, because most of those that move abroad are residents of a working age. The need for moreworkers due toexhausted internal resources begins to stimulateimmigration processes.
  6. The Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners, which came into force on 30 April 2004, is the main national legal act that regulates management issues relating to the migration of foreigners. From the start of its EU membership, Lithuanian migration policy (with the exception of emigration and circular migration) has beenfundamentally determined by the obligation that the respective provisions of EU legal acts are adopted into national legislation.
  7. Lithuania ensures the application of the principle of free movement of persons to citizens, and their family members, of the EU and European Free Trade Association Member States, and simplified procedures for residence in Lithuania for the aforementioned citizens and their family members.
  8. According to data from the Register of Foreigners, 33.3 thousand foreigners lived in Lithuania at the start of 2013, representing 1.1 per cent of inhabitants. Some 3.3 thousand of these were citizens of the EU and European Free Trade Association Member States, of which nearly half were citizens of Latvia, Poland and Germany.The other 30000 werecitizens of other countries, nearly two-thirds of whom were from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
  9. Globalisation, economic integration,liberalisation of the supply of services and population mobility are factors that have influenced changes in migration flows in EU Member States, just like in Lithuania.
  1. Emigration:
  2. The right of the citizens of Lithuania to move and choose their place of residence in Lithuania freely, and to leave their country freely, is stipulated in Article 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
  3. The Law on Emigration of the Republic of Lithuaniathat entered into force on30 November 1991 was repealed on 16 June 2000. After Lithuania acceded to the EU on 1 May 2004 and took on the obligations of membership in termsof the free movement of persons, andlater became a member of the Schengen states and abolished border control at land boundaries with Latvia and Poland from 21 December 2007 and through airport borders from 30 March 2008, and abolished restrictions of the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania on entering the labour marketsof other EU Member States as of 1 May 2011 (and Switzerland from 31 May 2014), there are no legal and administrative obstacles left to moving abroad for the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania.
  4. According to data from the Statistics Department of Lithuania, 225000 citizens of the Republic of Lithuania emigrated in 2008-2012, or 1.3 times the number in 2003-2007 (17000). Mostwentto other EU Member States. There has been a decreasing tendency for emigration since 2011, but the potentialfor it is still large.
  5. Most emigrants are young people of a workingage. According to data from the Statistics Department of Lithuania, 28 per cent of emigrants were aged 14-24 and 35 per cent 25-35 in 2012. In the past decade, the number of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania seeking education in other EU Member States has grown. In 2011, they comprised 6.4 per cent of studying citizens in the Republic of Lithuania (the average rate among EU Member States is approximately 3.3 per cent).
  6. Emigration produces negative consequences in Lithuania: the population is decreasing and its structure is changing, while the socio-economic burden of the working-age population is increasing. with revival of the economy lack of workforce in specific sectors is observed, and the “brain drain” process is in place.
  7. Emigration also has positive effects: some citizens of the Republic of Lithuania receive an education at well-known institutions abroad, gainnew experiencesin the labour market, improve their qualifications, and support family members and other people living in Lithuania through money orders from abroad. These factors contribute to an increase in internal consumption and general living standards in the country.
  8. The negative effects of emigration cannot be eliminated through direct legal and/or administrative regulation. This should be achievedthrough measures (such as the creation of new workplaces, the stimulation of employment, a reduction in unemployment, wider employment opportunities and improvementsin living conditions and health care) aimed at gradually weakening economic, social and other factors in the country that determine emigration (for example, differences in wages, the level of economic development, the disproportional distribution of employment by sector and the level of unemployment).
  9. Circular migration:
  10. The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania guarantees its citizens the right to return to Lithuania. Moreover, every Lithuanian is guaranteed the right of residence in the country. These rights are not restricted by any legal or administrative hurdles.
  11. According to data from the Statistics Department of Lithuania, 46.7 thousand citizens of the Republic of Lithuaniareturned to the countryto assumepermanent residence, or for at least 12 months, in 2008-2012. This was 2.2 times as many as in 2003-2007 (21.1 thousand). The number rapidly increased from 14000 in 2011 (17300 in 2012).
  12. Those who return are mostly young people of workingage, who can assimilate into the Lithuania labour market. They often return after acquiring new qualifications, knowledge and international experience, whichcan become significant factorsfor progress in Lithuania.
  13. To maintain a relationship with emigrants from Lithuania, distance-learning schools and internet websites are established andadvantageous conditions have beencreated for emigrants and foreigners ofLithuanian origin to enter Lithuanian higher schools.Help is offered to people returning from abroad and foreigners forintegration into the education system, withbridge classes and extra Lithuanian language lessons offered.
  14. However, until now the policy for promoting return migration hasnot been sufficiently successful. It haslacked attention to the quality of informal education forLithuanian children living abroad and teaching of the Lithuanian language to returning emigrants.
  15. The return of emigrantsto the Republic of Lithuania is still limited by significant differencesin economic wellbeing between Lithuania and target countries for emigration.
  16. The integration of returning citizens of the Republic of Lithuania can be limited by the fact that some lose their formerly acquired skills, with a large number employed in positions that do not require qualifications or do not correspond to their qualifications. Unsuccessful reintegration leads to repeated emigration and weakens the motivation of emigrants to return,thus having a negative effect on migration trends. The potential for circular migration is also reduced by weakeningties between emigrants and Lithuania, especially if people live abroad for a number of years.
  1. Immigration:
  2. According to data from the Statistics Department of Lithuania, the level of foreign immigration in 2004-2012 was relatively low, at not more than 3000 people per year.There is an observabledependency on economic conditions: more foreigners immigrated before the financial crises, with the flow decreasing by more than half in 2009-2010. Growth has been observed with the revival of the economy in recent years, although the number of immigrants is smaller than before the crises (with 2486 foreign immigrants in 2012).
  3. With the revival of the economy in 2004-2008 through intensive emigration and the increasing demands of theworkforce, immigration of labour to Lithuania grew, requiring corresponding legal regulation (the following documents were adopted: the Economic Migration Regulation Strategy, approved by the Government of Lithuania in Resolution No 416 of 25 April 2007 on Approval of the Economic Migration Regulation Strategy and the Plan of Implementation Measures for 2007-2008; the Lithuanian Migration Policy Guidelines, approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in Resolution No 1317 of 3 December 2008 on the Approval of the Lithuanian Migration Policy Guidelines, etc.)
  4. In accordance with the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners, this year temporary residence permitsforforeigners (hereinafter referred to as temporary residence permits) are issued for one year on grounds thatinclude family reunification, employment, studies and lawfulbusiness operations in Lithuania, andcan later be prolonged for a period of one year. Along-term EU residence permit forthe Republic of Lithuania is issued after a person haslived in the country continuously for 5 years usingtemporary residence permits and has complied with other conditions for permanent residence (such as knowledge of the national language and the basics of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania). In 2008-2012, the right to permanent residence was granted on average to 500-700 foreigners annually.
  5. According to data from the Statistics Department of Lithuania, only a third of foreigners who immigrate to Lithuania are EU citizens (mainly from neighbouring Poland and Latvia), but the number is growing. Nationals from other countries are still prevalent (70 per cent of immigrants in 2012), with the majority from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
  6. Before 2011, most temporary residence permits were issued on the grounds of family reunification. The situation is changing as the economy revives.The main reasons for issuing permits in 2012 wereon employment grounds or for engagement in lawful operations (48 per cent); and for family reunification (39 per cent). The number of immigrant students is growing continuously (426 temporary resident permits were issued on this basisin 2010, compared with 1316 in 2011 and 1331 in 2012).
  7. The level of labour immigration in Lithuania is not high with respect to the needs of the labour market, and is mostly concentrated in several economic sectors. Immigrationis partly determined by conditions established for Lithuanian employers to hire lacking workers from countries outside the EU, and is affected byinflexible and time-consuming procedures associated with theissue of permits forwork and temporary residence.
  8. The number of foreigners who immigrate on the grounds of employment is closely related to economic indicators. Before the recession, the number of work permits issued to foreigners was rapidly growing (nearly 8000 in 2008), but this was significantly lower during the recession (1800 in 2010). The number of foreign employees has grown with the revival of the economy (4600 in 2012).
  9. Recent years have seen growth in the number of temporary residence permits issued on the grounds of other lawful operations, which do not require a work permit: 1900 permits were issued in 2011 (of which 993 were issued to foreigners arriving for the first time or returning), compared with 2800 in 2012 (of which 1700 were issued to foreigners arriving for the first time or returning).
  10. The number of highly qualified employees is low. Inthe first 6 months of 2013, 23 temporary residence permits (on employment grounds) were issued to highly qualified employees.
  11. According to data from the Lithuanian Labour Exchange, almost all foreign employees are in the service (82 per cent in 2012) and industry (16 per cent) sectors. Most work permits were issued to those at international logistics companies (3265 permits), vessel hull welders (322), metal vessel hull assemblers (406) and restaurant chefs (122);permits are required in other economic sectors as well.
  12. According to data from the Statistics Department of Lithuania, although the number of foreigners is growing at Lithuanian higher schools that offer degree study programmes (3786 students in 2012), it is below the average among EU Member States: foreigners comprised 2.5 per cent of students in Lithuania in 2011, compared with an EU average of3.3 per cent.
  13. The current procedure forissuingresidence permits in the Republic of Lithuania creates conditions that invite highly qualified specialists and researchers to carry out scientific research in a simpler way.In the process of issuing work permits, the labour market lacks workers from foreign countries. However, the procedure for issuing residence permits according to certain rights has not changed since 2004 and is increasingly abused by foreigners. The legal acts in force do not provide full leverage to verify whether a foreigner arrives in Lithuania seeking real business opportunities that arebeneficialfor the country.
  14. No advantageous conditionsfor residence in Lithuania have been established for foreign employees of professions lacking in the labour market, or for foreigners investing in the country. These foreigners have to follow general procedures for theissue of temporary residence permits. Moreover, foreigners who wereeducated in Lithuania are usually obliged to leave because ofcomplicatedemployment conditions in the country.
  15. Foreigners sometimes abuse their legal stay in the country, using a Schengen visa while they await a decision ontemporary residence.Pressure is exerted on institutions to prolong their stay in the country with the visa, even though thisis not permitted under EU legal acts.Mediators are used in an attemptto speed up the procedurefor issuing the residence permit, etc.
  16. The legal acts in force do not clearly define the cases under which foreigners can change grounds for their legal status in the country – for example, foreigners who arrive to study at Lithuanian educational institutions and later wish to stay in the country, and who pursue activities such as establishing companies and apply for a temporary residence permit on the grounds of lawful business operations.
  17. Foreigners who arriveto study at Lithuanian educational institutions also come from countries from which there is a threat of illegal migration to Lithuania. These foreigners migrate through Lithuania to other EU Member States.
  18. Some foreigners who come to Lithuania under a labour contract also leave or attempt to leave to enter other EU Member States. Lithuania is losing the battle over highly qualified specialists to other economically strong EU countries that offer higher salaries and better conditions.
  19. Legal acts do not provide effective measures for fightingmarriages of convenience, which can be a manifestation of organised crime – for example, of human trafficking, forgery of documents orpeople smuggling.
  20. Employers who are interested in importingtheirworkforce, and who seek to fill vacancies with cheaper employeesfrom third countries, have a significant influence in the internal labour market.