On 17 April 2025, the Parliament amended the Law on the Establishment of Restrictive Measures Regarding Military Aggression against Ukraine. The aforementioned law is yet to be signed by the President. Still, it is expected to be done shortly, thus allowing the new statutory restriction to enter into force starting on 3 May 2025.
New ground for cancellation of Lithuanian TRP for Russian citizens
The law mentioned above introduces a new ground for cancellation of a temporary residence permit (TRP), which applies exclusively to Russian citizens, i.e., it establishes that a TRP issued to a Russian citizen in Lithuania may be cancelled if it is established that he/she has travelled to Russia or Belarus more than once during the previous three calendar months. Some exceptions have been introduced, indicating that TRP will not be cancelled if:
1) Russian citizens are crew members working in companies engaged in international cargo and passenger transportation or engaged in international cargo and passenger transportation to or from the Member States of the European Union or in transit through Lithuania;
2) The trip to Russia or Belarus was for objective reasons beyond the control of the Russian citizen.
Main aspects of the new restriction
Hence, the amendment aims to significantly reduce the number of trips by Russian citizens to Russia and Belarus by limiting these visits to one every three calendar months. It is important to note that if TRP is revoked for a foreigner who lives in Lithuania with family members who have been granted with TRPs on the ground of a family reunification, then the cancellation of TRP for the leading member of the family will be followed by the cancellation of TRPs for the other members of the family as well (irrespective of whether these family members have travelled to Russia or Belarus or not).
Please also note that the law explicitly states that temporary residence permits will be cancelled; thus, this restriction should not apply to Russian citizens holding permanent residence permits in Lithuania.
However, this restriction will not only affect Russian citizens or their family members, but also businesses operating in Lithuania. Employers with employees who are Russian citizens who frequently travel to Russia or Belarus should stay alert because of the high risk of cancellation of TRPs for such employees. Once the TRP is cancelled, the company should terminate the employment contract with the employee as soon as possible.
Exception
The law provides for an exception: if the trip was made for objective reasons beyond the person’s control, TRP will not be cancelled in such a case. However, it would be difficult to say at this stage what kind of circumstances could be considered objective reasons. It seems likely that, for instance, visiting family members during the holiday season would not be considered an objective reason.
