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Return Migration: Policies and Practices
Chartered Flights
No information is available on the use of chartered flights.
Framework Agreements with Countries of Origin or Transit
Lithuania has signed readmission agreements with 21 countries: Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia,
Ukraine, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Croatia, Spain, Austria, Poland, France,
Germany, Portugal, Russian Federation, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Greece.
The readmission agreements concluded with Spain, France, the Benelux and Greece are for the
readmission of persons residing illegally in Lithuania, whereas the agreement between Lithuania
and Moldova was concluded on the readmission of both illegally resident and illegally
entered migrants.
Return under readmission agreements generally needs to be requested within 14 days or one
month of the apprehension of the irregular migrant, unless otherwise stated in the readmission
agreement. The biggest obstacle to return of unwanted migrants is the lack of valid travel
documents.
Only few countries have consular representation in Lithuania, which makes it difficult for the
authorities to obtain travel documents for the removal process. In such cases the Migration
Department (Ministry of Interior) issues a temporary travel document, which was approved by
the Order of the Minister of Interior on 19 June 1997, and which meets the EU acquis requirements.
The temporary travel document is a stand-alone document of one page, containing relevant data
characteristic of an identity document.
There is no information on existing readmission agreements about whether they are applicable
solely to involuntary or voluntary returns. The agreement with the Russian Federation does
however specify that only migrants with identification documents can be returned.
Costs
No information available on the per capita costs of enforcing deportations.
Prosecution and Detention
A foreigner who has been expelled from the Republic of Lithuania pursuant to Article 34 of the
Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners may be prohibited from re-entering the Republic of Lithuania
for a definite or an indefinite period. The period of prohibition is five years, with certain
exceptions applicable depending on circumstances, e.g. if the migrant has family in Lithuania.
The order prohibiting an alien from re-entry into the Republic of Lithuania is stamped into the
rejectee’s travel documents. There is no special request to sign a statement of non-re-entry
before departure, however all deportation notifications include a statement about non-re-entering,
which all recipients have to sign for the purpose of acknowledging awareness of the decision.
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