Lithuanian Citizenship Application Refused? Your Options

Receiving a negative decision after long months of waiting is hard. But a negative decision often does not mean that you have no right to Lithuanian citizenship. Very often it simply means that the documents you submitted were not enough, or that they were assessed differently than you expected. In this article we explain how to read the decision you received, the most common reasons for refusal, and the routes that remain open.

First, read the decision carefully

What to do next depends on the type of decision. In practice, the most common ones are:

• an order of the Minister of the Interior not to restore Lithuanian citizenship – the negative decision on restoring citizenship is adopted by the Minister of the Interior, and the reasons for it are set out separately by the Migration Department;
• a decision to terminate the examination of the application – the application was not examined on its merits, for example because documents were missing;
• a decision that there are not enough documents proving the ancestor’s citizenship and/or departure – adopted under Article 38(6) of the Law on Citizenship; it opens the way to establishing the fact in court.

A decision always states the reasons and how it can be appealed. Note the date on which you received it: the deadline for an appeal runs from that date.

The most common reasons for refusal

• not enough evidence that the ancestor was a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania before June 15, 1940;
• inconsistent documents: names and surnames spelled differently, birth dates or places that do not match, with no explanation;
• a missing link in one of the generations – a document connecting you to your ancestor;
• no proof that the ancestor left Lithuania before March 11, 1990 (important for dual citizenship);
• the authorities consider that the ancestor lost Lithuanian citizenship before June 15, 1940. It is important to know that naturalization in another country does not, by itself, mean that citizenship was lost. It matters only if the citizenship was formally revoked and documents confirming this exist in the Lithuanian archives.

Your options

1. Appeal the decision

A negative decision can be appealed to the Lithuanian Administrative Disputes Commission (LAGK, a pre-trial body) or to an administrative court. Going to the LAGK is optional – you can file a complaint with the court directly. The complaint must be filed within one month from the day the decision was served, so there is no time to lose. In practice, both the LAGK and the courts have annulled negative decisions and ordered the Migration Department to examine the application again – especially where the evidence submitted had not been properly assessed. We discussed one such case in our case law review.

2. Ask the court to establish a legally significant fact

If the Migration Department has decided that there are not enough documents proving the ancestor’s citizenship and/or departure, your ancestor’s citizenship can be established in court, including on the basis of indirect evidence. We describe this route in detail in Proving Your Ancestor’s Lithuanian Citizenship in Court.

3. Submit a new application with additional evidence

If the refusal was caused by missing documents, sometimes the most effective step is to find them and submit a new application. Additional evidence may be found in the Lithuanian archives and in the archives of your own country: naturalization files, passenger lists, census records. We explain how to search in our article on finding your ancestor’s records in the Lithuanian archives.

Which route to choose depends on the type of decision, its reasons and the evidence available. It is often worth combining routes – for example, appealing the decision while searching for additional documents at the same time.

How we can help

Leo Law Firm reviews the decision you received and its reasons, advises which route is best in your case, and handles the whole process: we prepare the complaint or the court application, find the missing evidence and represent you before the LAGK and in court. We have represented many clients in appeals against negative citizenship decisions and in court proceedings to establish an ancestor’s citizenship – we know what evidence the Migration Department, the LAGK and the courts expect to see. If you have received a negative decision, do not wait – book a free consultation and send us a copy of the decision.