Lithuania rewards people who arrive with documents in order. The country is small, digital and efficient once you are inside the system, but the system has a door, and the door is a stack of papers in a particular order. Get the order wrong and you queue twice.
Moving to Lithuania as a citizen of another EU country is simpler than most people fear. Nobody asks you for a visa, and nobody asks you for a work permit. What you need is a certificate, an address and a few accounts, in that sequence.
What happens in the first three months of moving to Lithuania?
Nothing, officially. You arrive with an ID card or a passport and you may stay up to three months without any formality. The rule is worded "more than three months within a six-month period", which means short returns home do not reset the clock the way many people hope.
Use those weeks sensibly. Find a flat, test the neighbourhood in the dark and cold if you can, and open a first account. If you plan to work, your employer can start the paperwork on its side straight away: the contract must be written, and the employer must register you with Sodra (the social insurance fund) at least one working day before you start (working in Lithuania).
Which documents do you need when moving to Lithuania?
A valid passport or ID card, first. Then proof of why you are staying: an employment contract, proof of self-employment, proof of study, or proof of enough resources plus health insurance if you are retired or not working. For people who are not working, the minimum figure published for resources is €233 a month per person (2026), assessed case by case.
Foreign documents, apart from marriage and birth certificates and health insurance certificates, which may be handed in in English, must be translated into Lithuanian by an authorised translator. Keep your lease handy too: it is the proof that makes your address count.
How do you get the residence certificate?
You apply online on MIGRIS, the migration information system, then you book a slot to show your originals and give biometric data. The state fee is €10 and the examination takes about a month (2026). The certificate is valid up to five years, or for the planned length of your stay if shorter. The full walk-through is in our guide to residence in Lithuania for EU citizens.
A flat with no registered lease, a contract in a language you do not read, or a question about which certificate your situation needs? Moovy can walk you through the order of steps for your own profile and draft the email to the right office.
How do you declare your address?
You declare your place of residence within a month of arriving or changing address. You can tick a box in your MIGRIS application, so no separate declaration is needed, or go to the local seniūnija (a neighbourhood or municipal office) within a month of collecting your certificate. It is free. If you rent, your landlord must agree in writing, or confirm online within five working days. A hotel or hostel can give you an accommodation certificate instead.
Two rules catch people out. You can only declare a home with at least 7 m² per adult (4 m² for students). And a visa cannot be used to declare a home: the residence document comes first, the address second. The same address also matters for tax residence, so ask the tax office how it applies to you.
What comes after the certificate and the address?
Your personal code (asmens kodas) is the number the tax office, the bank, your employer and the health system all use. The official pages we read do not say on which day exactly it is issued to an EU citizen, so ask the migration counter when you collect your certificate and check the number appears in your records (Lithuanian personal code). In the meantime foreigners are registered under a temporary ILTU code.
Then open a bank account, because Lithuanian banks double as the electronic ID for most government portals. Then register with a family doctor (healthcare in Lithuania).
What mistakes should you avoid when moving to Lithuania?
- Counting three months per trip. The rule counts three months over six.
- Declaring your address before you hold your document. The order is residence document first, address second.
- Forgetting to declare your departure. If you leave for more than six months without declaring it, health insurance contributions can keep accumulating.
- Relying on private lookalike sites. Official sites are migracija.lrv.lt, vmi.lt, sodra.lt, registrucentras.lt and epaslaugos.lt.
- Assuming everything works in English. Many forms and counters are in Lithuanian only.
Where can you get help in Vilnius?
International House Vilnius, at Konstitucijos pr. 3, offers free advice, by appointment, on registration, health insurance and other early steps. Outside the capital, your municipal office can point you to the right counter.
A last practical note: the winter is real. If you arrive in autumn with a car, winter tyres are compulsory from 10 November (driving in Lithuania). If you arrive without one, a good coat does more for your first month than any form.
What does moving to Lithuania cost in the first weeks?
The state fees are small. The bigger items are the deposit on a flat and the translations. Here is what the official sources give, with the year:
- Residence certificate for EU citizens: €10 (Migration Department, 2026).
- Declaring your address: free (Centre of Registers, 2026).
- Lease registration, optional: €8.19 in five working days, €10.65 in three, €16.38 in one (2026).
- Bank account: from nothing to €200 for a foreigner, depending on the bank (IOM, Go Vilnius).
- Deposit on a flat: usually one to three months of rent according to the IOM, with no legal cap in the Civil Code.
- Prepaid SIM card: from €5 to €10 a month (Go Vilnius).
- Authorised translations: priced by the translator, so ask for a quote before you order.
Add the cost of getting your documents out of your home country, which official pages do not price.
What changes if you are Swiss, British or relocating to Vilnius with family?
Swiss citizens follow the same rules as EU citizens, under the free movement agreement. British citizens arriving now need a temporary residence permit rather than a certificate, with fees of €220 plus €75 in 2026 (moving to Lithuania from the UK). Non-EU family members of an EU citizen apply for a card at €60.
If you are relocating to Vilnius with children, start on the nursery and school applications the day your address is declared: the main admission window in the capital runs from 1 March to 31 May, and nursery groups fill in advance (schools in Lithuania for expat children).
A short checklist for week one
- Passport or ID card valid for the whole stay.
- A written lease, signed before any payment.
- Documents translated by an authorised translator where needed.
- An appointment booked on MIGRIS if you will stay more than three months.
- A first bank account, ideally with online access.
- A note of the winter-tyre date, 10 November, if you drive.
None of this is difficult, but each step depends on the one before it. If a counter sends you away, it is usually because a document that comes earlier in the chain is missing.