How can your child become Lithuanian (European Union) citizen?

Working as an advocate in counseling the clients on their Lithuanian (LTU) Citizenship, I have discovered that most of the Jews who apply for the reinstatement of their LTU Citizenship do this to secure a bright future for their children. Being a part of the European Union, Lithuania is a great country to grant both you and your children excellent opportunities such as access to the best education and visa-free travel.

However, most of my clients are not aware of two different scenarios which can make their children acquire LTU Citizenship.

A complete look at these two different scenarios will show you more reasons why you should reinstate your LTU Citizenship now rather than waiting for a time when it will involve quite a rigorous process for you and your kids.

Scenario 1. Child born before at least one of the parents became a LTU Citizen.

In this scenario, the parent and the child follow the same procedure and process for the application for LTU Citizenship reinstatement. Duration of the procedure would essentially be the same. Therefore, please note that the application for the child would also need comply with the additional conditions (i.e. proving blood lines and not too far down the generation line etc.).

Thus to summarize – there is no guarantee that the child would be eligible to apply and / or that this additional application would be as prompt as automatic.

Scenario 2. Child born after at least one of the parents already became a LTU Citizen.

In this case the child automatically becomes a LTU Citizen. And this wonderful civic right (introduced with the amendment of Law on Citizenship in 2015) is not limited in number of generations (on condition the Law on Citizenship would not be altered).

Thus to summarize, if the parent is already a LTU Citizen at the time of the child’s birth, the child is guaranteed LTU citizenship. The child does not need to go through the lengthy application process which the parent was required to do. They can apply for the Lithuanian passport through the LTU Embassy and the process is quick and simple.

For instance, one of my clients by name Ricki acquired her LTU Citizenship before her little daughter Olivia was born. After the baby’s birth, Ricki wrote to me: “Olivia has received her passport! The process was seamless and quick! Thank you for all your help!”

On a few occasions my clients were young families that came to me after their children were born. Unfortunately, although the parents were eligible for LTU Citizenship reinstatement, the children were too distantly related to the original Litvak and were not entitled to be granted a citizenship this way.

It was a real pity to find out that some of them were considering to apply for LTU Citizenship reinstatement for a rather long time and chose not to do it until after their children were born. Had the application been approved before, the family would have gone down the second scenario and the children would have become LTU Citizens automatically.

I strongly recommend my clients not to wait with their application and to apply for the Lithuanian citizenship by descent as soon as possible. Without a doubt, these scenarios show us that reinstating your LTU Citizenship is one choice you must make now and never wait for the later.

If you are looking into obtaining Lithuanian Citizenship, contact me for an individual free of charge consultation. I will explain the process of actions in detail and my assistance in procedures for the Reinstatement of Lithuanian Citizenship. I assure you that no upfront payment is required and no payments in case application is not approved as we only charge upon successful application.

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