Hiring foreign workers in Lithuania — employer guide

01

Overview

Lithuania's sponsor-side work sits with the employer or host institution on almost every practical work route: standard employment permits, the EU Blue Card, intra-corporate transfer permits, researcher channels, and seasonal work visas all rely on a sponsor filing the mediation letter in MIGRIS and keeping the contract, salary, and role details aligned across the case. The recurring sponsor pattern is vacancy or labour-market prep where required, mediation-letter filing, and prompt reporting if the employment relationship changes. 1 3 4 5 6 7

The checked sponsor-facing English pages clearly confirm the EUR 50 mediation-letter stamp duty, but the broader residence-permit fee schedule itself was not exposed cleanly in this environment's scrape, so payroll or mobility teams should re-check the live MIGRIS fee table before payment. 1 3 5

02

Sponsor-backed routes

Employment-based temporary residence permit

Lithuanian employer or temporary employment company

The sponsor registers the vacancy where required, secures the work permit or labour-market decision when the route needs it, and files the mediation letter in MIGRIS before the worker can complete the residence-permit case.

Submit the mediation letter in MIGRIS and pay the EUR 50 stamp duty.
Undertake to employ the worker full-time for at least 6 months and keep the filed salary terms consistent.
Make sure qualification and recent work-experience evidence exist if the route relies on them.

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EU Blue Card

Lithuanian employer

Blue Card sponsors handle the Lithuanian job offer, mediation-letter filing, qualification match, and any Employment Service labour-market step that still applies under Lithuania's pay and shortage-profession exemptions.

Offer a highly qualified role with pay at the current Blue Card multiplier.
File the mediation letter and make sure the worker's degree or experience-equivalent proof is available.
Obtain or trigger the Employment Service decision when Lithuania still requires it for the case.

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Intra-corporate transferee permit

Lithuanian host company in the same group

The Lithuanian host company sponsors the ICT route through the mediation letter and by documenting the group relationship, the transfer basis, the salary, and the promise to return the worker to the sending company after the assignment.

File the host-company mediation letter in MIGRIS and pay the EUR 50 stamp duty.
Issue the appointment or internship documents showing duration, salary, and return commitment.
Document the host role and the worker's prior service within the non-EU group company.

5

Researcher visa or permit

Lithuanian science and higher-education institution or other qualifying host

Lithuania's researcher routes still rely on the host institution to initiate the file, especially through the mediation letter and the contract basis showing why the person is coming as a researcher.

Submit the mediation letter in MIGRIS before the researcher files the visa or permit application.
Issue the employment, programme, or author-contract basis that matches the chosen researcher route.
Stay available if the migration authority needs clarification on the host arrangement.

6

Seasonal work national visa

Lithuanian seasonal employer

For seasonal work above 90 days, the employer first secures the seasonal work authorisation and then files the MIGRIS mediation letter that supports the national visa application.

Make sure the worker has or has applied for the seasonal work permit that fits the intended duration.
Submit the seasonal-work mediation letter in MIGRIS and pay the EUR 50 stamp duty.
Keep the visa-side file aligned with the authorised seasonal-work period.

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03

Employer requirements

01

Lithuanian sponsors generally need to submit the mediation letter in MIGRIS and keep the contract, role, and salary details consistent with the route-specific legal basis.

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02

For standard work cases, the employer normally must have carried the relevant business activity for at least the last 6 months and, where applicable, prove the worker's qualification or recent experience or offer salary at the published level.

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03

Sponsors must notify the Migration Department quickly when the employment relationship changes, including non-arrival, failure to recruit, termination, or a change in job function.

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04

Documents

Mediation letter filed in MIGRIS

This is the core sponsor document across Lithuania's work routes, and the sponsor pays the EUR 50 stamp duty to complete it.

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Employment, appointment, or host agreement

The sponsor has to issue the contract or appointment basis that matches the route, including duration, salary, and the role the worker will actually perform in Lithuania.

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Qualification or group-relationship evidence

Depending on the route, the sponsor needs supporting evidence for qualifications, work experience, or the corporate link between the sending company and the Lithuanian host.

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05

Process

1

Choose the correct sponsor-backed route

Start by deciding whether the worker fits standard employment, Blue Card, ICT, researcher, or seasonal work, because the sponsor paperwork and labour-market steps change by route.

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2

Complete the sponsor-side filing

Register the vacancy or work-authorisation step where required, submit the MIGRIS mediation letter, and make sure the contract and salary details match the route before the worker books biometrics.

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3

Support the worker until collection and after onboarding

Stay available for follow-up during the visa or permit review, then keep reporting duties in mind after arrival because Lithuanian employers must inform the Migration Department quickly about certain employment changes.

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06

Warnings

Warning

Sponsor reporting duties continue after hiring

Lithuanian sponsors are not done once the visa or permit is issued: the Migration Department expects notices about non-arrival, non-recruitment, termination, and job-function changes within the published deadlines.

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Warning

Employer changes use a separate authorisation workflow

Lithuania does not treat a new job offer as self-executing. The new or existing employer still has to support the change-employer or change-job-function process before the worker can lawfully switch.

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