How much Lithuanian citizenship costs in 2026

9 min read · Published 6 October 2026

The fee for restoring Lithuanian citizenship is about $140 and a passport is $60. The main costs are archives, apostilles and translations into Lithuanian, and the main risk is giving up your first citizenship.

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Key point	2026 figures
Route	restoration of citizenship by descent
Who qualifies	children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Lithuanian citizens before 15 June 1940
Fee	~$140 per application
Language exam	not required
Processing	6-12 months
Relocation	not required
Dual citizenship	only for descendants of deportees and those who left before 11 March 1990 not for the USSR

Amounts checked: 2026-10-06

Lithuania does not sell citizenship for investment, but it restores it to descendants of citizens of the pre-war Lithuanian Republic up to the third generation. You do not need to live in the country or pass a language exam, and a Lithuanian passport gives the right to live and work across the EU.

The state charges little for this: the processing fee and the passport together come to about $200. The rest of the money goes on Lithuanian archives, certificates for the whole line, apostilles and translations. Below is every cost item, the family minimum, timelines and what happens after a refusal.

We will work out online when you can apply and what fees and documents will cost for your family.

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What the cost is made of

Cost item	Amount	Who pays
Citizenship restoration fee	$140	main applicant
Lithuanian passport	$60	main applicant
Child passport	$30	each child
Identity card	$15	optional
Archive records about the ancestor	at Lithuanian archive tariffs	per request
Duplicate certificates from registry offices in your country	at local tariffs	per document
Apostille and translation into Lithuanian	per document	each applicant
Passport in 5 working days or 1 day	$120 or $230	optional

The processing fee is paid before the review starts and is set by the Lithuanian Migration Department's list of state fees. For children under 18 the passport and identity card cost half. Dollars are at the European Central Bank rate, rounded up.

The application is filed through the Migration Department's online system, and the original documents are shown in person at the department or a Lithuanian consulate.

The fee is $140, the ancestor's story decides

Refusals of Lithuanian citizenship almost always come down to documents: the ancestor lived in the Vilnius region under Polish rule, a certificate is missing from the chain of generations, the surname is spelled differently in Polish and Russian. Murblz checks whether the ancestor was a Lithuanian citizen before 15 June 1940 and whether you can keep your first passport, searches Lithuanian archives, prepares apostilles and translations and answers the Migration Department's requests.

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How much it costs for a family of 2, 3 and 4

Family	Minimum
Two adults	from $200 (a spouse without own roots is not included)
Two adults and a child	from $230 (a spouse without own roots is not included)
Two adults and two children	from $260 (a spouse without own roots is not included)

Every adult descendant with the right to restoration files their own application and pays their own fee. Minor children are included on their parents' application. A spouse without Lithuanian roots gets residence through family reunification and citizenship under the general naturalisation rules, with language and constitution exams.

What the cost does not include

renouncing Russian citizenship through the consulate if the first citizenship cannot be kept;
an archive search without precise data on the ancestor, which costs more;
a court ruling establishing a fact if the surname differs between documents;
flights and the trip to have originals checked;
residence and naturalisation for a spouse without Lithuanian roots.

Timeline by step

Step	Time
Check: was the ancestor a Lithuanian citizen before 15 June 1940	1-2 weeks
Search in Lithuanian archives	1-4 months
Certificates for the whole line, apostilles and translations	in parallel with the archives
Online filing and check of originals	1 day
Review and security check	6-12 months
Passport	up to a month

The whole path takes from 8 months to a year and a half. Citizens of Russia and Belarus are checked for longer, and the law sets no deadline for that check.

Is money refunded if you are refused

There is no investment, and the fee pays for the review, so it is not returned after a refusal. The money spent on archives, apostilles and translations is also gone.

Refusals most often follow when the ancestor lived in Lithuania but citizenship is not confirmed, when they lived in the Vilnius region in 1920-1939 while it was part of Poland, and when there is a gap in the chain of generations. These issues are resolved before filing, not after a refusal.

Comparison with neighbouring programmes

Country	Route	Minimum for one	Time	Dual citizenship
Latvia	Citizenship by Latvian descent	from $60	6-12 months	with conditions
Poland	Polish Card (Karta Polaka), permanent residence and recognition as a citizen	from $60	A year in Poland with permanent residence, then the governor's decision	allowed
Greece	Citizenship by Greek descent through a consulate	from $150	About 18 months	allowed

Latvia registers citizenship with no generation limit and faster, but descendants of citizens also have to renounce Russian citizenship. Poland requires the Pole's Card and a year of living in the country. Greece restores citizenship through a consulate in about a year and a half, and the first passport is kept. Lithuania wins on a low fee and timeline, and loses on the rule about giving up the first citizenship.

When you can keep your first citizenship

Lithuania generally does not allow dual citizenship. On restoration the first passport is kept in two cases:

the ancestor was exiled, deported, imprisoned or sent to forced labour during the occupation;
the ancestor left Lithuania before 11 March 1990, but not for Soviet territory after 15 June 1940, for example emigrating to the US, Argentina or Brazil.

If the ancestor moved to another Soviet republic after 1940, citizenship is restored but the first one has to be given up. For Russians this is a separate cost in money and time: renouncing citizenship through the consulate takes months. The 2019 and 2024 referendums on wider dual citizenship failed because of turnout.

Documents for the application

proof of the ancestor's citizenship before 15 June 1940: a pre-war Lithuanian passport, a resident card, a military ID, census records;
parish records of the ancestor's birth and marriage from Lithuanian historical archives;
birth and marriage certificates for the whole line from the ancestor to you, apostilled;
deportation records or emigration documents if you want to keep your first citizenship;
the applicant's passport and photo;
translations into Lithuanian of all documents in other languages.

Pre-war passports and resident cards are kept at the Lithuanian Central State Archives, and parish registers at the Lithuanian State Historical Archives.

If the ancestor was Lithuanian but not a citizen

Those with at least one parent or grandparent who was ethnically Lithuanian can get a certificate of Lithuanian descent from the Migration Department. It gives the right to residence without work or study and opens citizenship by a simplified procedure, without a residence period. The first citizenship is kept under the same exceptions as on restoration.

The 2023 restrictions on visas and residence for citizens of Russia and Belarus apply neither to people of Lithuanian descent nor to restoration of citizenship.

Who Lithuanian citizenship suits

Descendants of citizens of pre-war Lithuania who have kept family documents, especially those whose ancestors were deported or emigrated to the West: they get an EU passport for a fee of about $140 without giving up their own.

If the ancestor moved to Russia or another Soviet republic after the war, you will have to choose between passports. Then compare Latvia, Bulgaria and Romania.

This topic in other countries

Citizenship cost in other countries:

More about the country:

All programmes and a family calculator - how much citizenship costs in different countries.

FAQ

How much does Lithuanian citizenship cost in 2026?

The processing fee is about $140 and the passport $60. On top come archive records, certificates, apostilles and translations into Lithuanian.

Can you buy Lithuanian citizenship?

No. Lithuania restores citizenship to descendants of citizens of the pre-war republic, and others can naturalise after living in the country.

How much does Lithuanian citizenship cost for a family?

Each adult with the right to restoration pays about $140 plus $60 for a passport. Children are included on the parents' application, and a child's passport costs $30. A spouse without roots needs residence through family reunification.

Up to which generation can Lithuanian citizenship be restored?

Up to great-grandchildren: children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Lithuanian citizens before 15 June 1940 qualify.

Do you have to give up Russian citizenship?

It depends on the ancestor's story. If they were deported or left before 11 March 1990 not for the USSR, the first citizenship is kept. If they moved to another Soviet republic after 1940, it has to be given up.

How long does Lithuanian citizenship take?

Archives take 1-4 months, the review 6-12 months and the passport up to a month. Citizens of Russia and Belarus are checked for longer.

Do you need to speak Lithuanian?

No. Restoring citizenship requires neither a language exam nor living in Lithuania.

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