Lithuanian citizenship

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The Lithuanian citizenship ( pilietybė ) determines a person's affiliation with the State Association of Lithuania , which exists as an independent polity 1919-40 and since 1,991th Before the establishment of Soviet power, the residents were subjects of the Tsar .

1919 to 1940

The Vilnius country annexed by Poland in the Polish-Lithuanian war (green) in 1921, another area disputed between Lithuania and Poland (hatched). The Memelland on the coast.
Lithuanian passport from 1940.

Provisional Citizenship Act 1919

The cabinet passed a provisional citizenship law on January 9, 1919.

By law, all residents with Lithuanian parents, returnees, people who had lived in the country for more than ten years before 1914 and owned real estate or had a permanent job (not as a Russian civil servant) became Lithuanians. This also applied to children, women and widows of this group of people.

Assuming solvency and integrity, naturalizations were possible upon application after five years of residence. The Ministry of the Interior was responsible in consultation with the Ministry of Justice.

The Lithuanian-Russian peace treaty signed in Moscow on July 12, 1920 regulated not only the border line, but also the options. Russian residents of Lithuania who had lived permanently in the country before ratification or who were entered in the register of residents before 1914 became eo ipso Lithuanian citizens, unless they had been civil servants or professional soldiers in Russian service. Option rules were added to the 1919 Citizenship Act as Section 6.

In 1921, agreements on citizenship issues were concluded with the Soviet Ukraine and Latvia (at the same time on the demarcation of borders), primarily options were regulated in order to prevent dual statehood.

Lithuanian Constitution 1922

In §8 of the constitution it was stipulated that questions of citizenship are to be regulated by law. Dual statehood was expressly forbidden. In addition, the residence requirement for naturalization has been increased to ten years. The Minister of Justice interpreted the rule in such a way that the 10-year period could only begin on February 16, 1918, so that no naturalizations took place until 1928.

Provisional Lithuanian Constitution 1928

Dual statehood allowed for Lithuanians living in American ius soli countries. However, administrative practice ensured that no one got two passports. As a result, an agreement was concluded with the USA on the conscription of dual nationals.

1938 Constitution and 1939 Citizenship Act

An extremely high fee of 5000 litas has been charged for naturalization since 1936 . In 1937 the rule was introduced that the interior minister could revoke his citizenship if someone lived abroad for two years without a valid passport.

The new nationalist-Lithuanian constitution of 1938 dealt with citizenship issues in a comparatively detailed manner in Articles 11-14. Certain possible types of employment were forbidden, dual statehood with exceptions to be determined by law and awards because of services to the country as well as withdrawal because of acts hostile to the state.

The new Citizenship Act of Aug. 8, 1939 made naturalization difficult because of ethnicity ( tautybė ). There was discrimination against Germans and Poles. For returning ethnic Lithuanians, it was sufficient to take up residence in Germany without a waiting period. The reasons for withdrawal given in the constitution have been specified more precisely. They were mainly related to foreign civil service and military service obligations.

Memelland

Passport issued in 1940 by the Lithuanian consulate in Memel, extended by the German authorities for six months 1942.

After Lithuania occupied Memelland in 1923 without a vote , residents who did not want to become Lithuanians were given an 18-month option period for German citizenship . They would then have had to leave the country within two years and were allowed to take their property with them unhindered and duty-free. In 1928 the government of the Reich received a promise from Lithuania not to expel any remaining German optants. The 10-year period for naturalization counted in Memelland from the day of taking up residence.

In the mid-1930s, almost exactly half of the 145,000 inhabitants were of German descent. The citizenship agreement of July 7, 1939 stipulated that Lithuanians who moved from Memelland to Lithuania before it came into effect on November 9, 1939, would retain their citizenship there. The German Optanten of 1924 and their descendants in Memel became Germans again retrospectively to March 22, 1939, residents of Lithuanian origin only if they had their place of residence in the area. The latter in turn had the option to apply for Lithuanian citizenship until March 31, 1940. Dual statehood was not envisaged on either side.

1940 to 1991

Assignments of territory 1938-40 that affected the citizenship of the residents: Memelland . Area east of the Šešupė , 1939–40 German, 1941 Soviet. Suwałki triangle in September 1939 German; South Suwałki area Soviet in September 1939. East Wilnius Area Jul 12, 1920 in Lithuanian; West Wilnius area after the friendship treaty of October 10, 1939 to Lithuania, and to the Lithuanian SSR on November 6, 1940.

Soviet citizenship law was extended to all of the newly acquired territories in 1940 and 1945, respectively . According to the decree of the Supreme Lithuanian Soviet of November 30, 1940, everyone who had lived in Lithuania on September 1, 1939 became a citizen, regardless of whether he or she had previously had Lithuanian citizenship. Here only Union citizenship was of importance, even if a “nationality” of individual republics was entered in the domestic passports.

Special provisions regarding the Vilnius area, Baltic countries abroad or the possible entry in the German People's List (1941–44 in the Bialystok district ) and departure from Poland cannot be discussed in more detail here.

Citizenship Act 1989

In the days of the Soviet Union, the LiSSR issued its own citizenship regulation on November 3, 1989. Responsibility lay with the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Lithuania. According to the ius soli principle, it granted citizenship to every child born within with Lithuanian parents or grandparents. Other permanent residents ( i.e. with Russian пропи́ска propíska ) could receive them by taking the oath without any further language proficiency test or similar. An agreement with Russia also ensured that people who moved there in 1989-91 continued to have this option. Dual statehood was generally prohibited.

Since 1991

Possession of a Lithuanian passport was also proof of citizenship under the 1991 and 2002 laws.

Constitutional law theorists of the Baltic countries assume that these republics did not cease to exist as subjects of international law through their voluntary accession to the Soviet Union in 1940, so that they would have been the legal successors of the countries that became independent in 1919 since 1991. This would result in the permanent existence of citizenship. The modern Lithuanian constitution provides that citizenship is acquired by birth and in the cases provided by law.

Citizenship Act 1991

In contrast to the other Baltic states, Lithuania remained more agrarian, immigration was lower, so that by 2000 the minority share was nine percent Russians and seven percent Poles. The creation of stateless “non-citizens” practiced in Latvia and Estonia did not take place. Every resident Soviet citizen became ipso iure Lithuanian. The country's population decreased by 24% between 1991 and 2018.

Responsible administrative bodies are the Citizenship Commission (procedural questions and preliminary reviews for the President in whose name the naturalization takes place) and the Ministry of the Interior with subordinate departments as the decision-making body. The competent administrative court is the Vilnius Court of Justice. Citizenship matters were published in print in the Valstybės žinios State Gazette .

The Citizenship Act of November 4th came into force on December 5th, 1991. Lithuanians by law were defined in the Citizenship Act as those who were citizens under the 1991 Residence Rules, as well as persons (and their descendants) who had left the country before Feb. 16, 1918 and who did not acquire any other citizenship, as well as all (and their descendants) who had their permanent residence in the respective Lithuanian borders in the interwar period from January 9, 1919 to June 15, 1940.

Reasons for loss were more than three years abroad without a valid Lithuanian passport (abolished in October 1993) or foreign military service. In addition, there was the voluntary acceptance of foreign citizenship. Disqualification by court ruling was possible if a naturalized person can be shown to have participated in the deportations of Lithuanian citizens between 1940 and 1991.

In the case of mixed marriages and births abroad, the parents had to choose a nationality of the child. Young people aged 14-18 had a say for themselves.

A language and citizenship test have been introduced for naturalization applicants under 65. Spouses could be naturalized after three years of marriage (in the constitution marriage is defined as the union of a man and a woman). The other rules on acquisition at birth and naturalization were adopted almost unchanged in the 2010 follow-up law. In 1991, the law of impiety (no criminal record) was more stringent. Alcoholics, drug addicts, the mentally ill or people with serious infectious diseases were also excluded from naturalization.

Multi-nationality for people who left the country after March 11, 1990 was and is only allowed in very few exceptional cases; especially not if you went to the USSR. Lithuanians living abroad and their descendants can be issued a certificate that entitles them to permanent residence in Lithuania without naturalization. B. enables the free issue of a Schengen visa (class C) for third country nationals.

statistics

After the peak years at the beginning, the number of naturalizations fell rapidly: 1993: 227, 1994: 2561, 1995: 1263, 1996: 760,… 2000: 490. Naturalizations of people who did not come from former Soviet republics and are rare. The number of naturalizations granted directly by the President “for reasons of merit” was comparatively high: 1993: 47, 1994: 127, 1995: 157, 1996: 65, ... 1999 and 2000: 71 each, ... 2003: 27. A constitutional court judgment severely restricted practice from 2004. They only exist in individual cases.

The following made use of the revocation option: 1993: 4041, 1994: 773, 1995-8: each by 500 people.

Citizenship Act 2002

The main reason for the adoption was the will of the parliament to the inequalities in the treatment of dual nationals, which result from the law i. d. F. 1995 had revealed to compensate.

Apart from that, the previous practice mainly changed that Lithuanians living abroad could pass on citizenship to the third generation.

On November 13, 2006, the Constitutional Court ruled that the provisions on multiple statehood were “unclear”. The reason was the large number of Lithuanians eligible to vote in the diaspora, especially in America. A special law limited to 2010 liberalized this area.

Citizenship Act 2010

The detailed Citizenship Act 2010 regulates both legal and procedural issues. It stipulates that marriage and divorce have no impact on citizenship matters, but if you marry one, naturalization can take place after seven years of marriage or five years of residence and one year of marriage. Withdrawal / expatriation (as a punishment) is no longer possible.

Naturalizations or dismissals of both parents extend to underage children who, however, have a say between the ages of 14-18.

Acquisition by birth
  • Children of Lithuanian parents, regardless of their place of birth. This also applies if only one parent was Lithuanian and may have died before the birth.
  • Children of stateless persons with permanent residence rights who are born in Lithuania, unless they are given another nationality through a parent.
  • Foundlings.
  • Children of Lithuanian parents who take on a foreign nationality while underage do not lose their Lithuanian nationality as a result.
naturalization

The naturalization takes place by decree of the president, the new citizen then has to swear an oath of allegiance to an official of the Ministry of the Interior (or consulate) within six months. At this point at the latest, evidence of the abandonment / discharge from other citizenship issues must be provided, unless there is a reason for an exception. Citizenship decisions that cannot be challenged are now being published electronically in Teisės Aktų Registras .

  • Sufficient income, ten years of legal residence in Lithuania with permanent residence permit at the time of application, and a language and citizenship test for people under 65 are required when submitting the application. In addition, no convictions for serious crimes may have occurred.
  • in the simplified procedure (without residence requirement and examinations), by submitting a corresponding declaration: persons with Lithuanian parents or grandparents. Other citizenships must be given up.
  • through restoration (without residence requirement and examinations) for persons (and descendants) who were Lithuanian citizens before June 15, 1940 and who verifiably left the country before March 11, 1990 and who were not re-naturalized before the 2002 Act came into force. Other citizenships only have to be given up if the law of the releasing country so requires.
  • Simplified merit naturalizations by the president are possible.

Over eighty percent of immigrants in the 2010s came from the former Soviet republics, especially Ukraine and Belarus. Eurostat reports a steady decrease in annual naturalizations from 307 to 130 for the period 2007-2018.

Reasons for loss
  • voluntary task
  • Acceptance of foreign citizenship (with certain exceptions)
  • Failure to submit an option declaration before the 21st birthday for dual citizens from birth (only to a limited extent since 2016).
  • Acceptance of a foreign civil servant position without a Lithuanian permit.
  • Revocation of naturalization obtained through false information.

Restoration is possible on request, depending on the circumstances, possibly only after five years of residence in Germany.

Lithuania acceded to the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness in 2013 .

Multiple statehood

The question of dual statehood has been hotly politically contested for years. Two legislative amendments 2015/6 allow dual citizenship for most conceivable cases in which a person has automatically acquired another citizenship, e.g. B. as a child from birth or adoption; Marriage; Descendants of deportees before independence in 1990; recognized refugees. The obligation to opt out until the age of 21 after reaching the age of majority no longer applies. Children born abroad to Lithuanian parents (including mixed marriages) can be registered as Lithuanians (possibly with dual citizenship) in the Central Register ( Civilinės metrikacijos įstaiga ). A court ruling in November 2017 banned dual citizenship for descendants of those who emigrated before 1940. A referendum on May 12, 2019, which would have expanded the group of beneficiaries, failed.

Since 2011, descendants of Lithuanian Jews ( Litvaks ) who emigrated before 1940 have been allowed to retain their second citizenship. However, until the change on June 23, 2016, it was necessary for them to prove political persecution at the time, which was hardly possible in practice.

literature

  • Barrington, LW; Nations, states, and citizens: an explanation of the citizenship policies in Estonia and Lithuania; Review of Central and East European Law, Vol. 2 (2005), pp. 103-148
  • Kūris, Egidijus; Country Report: Lithuania ; San Domenico di Fiesole Nov. 2009 (CADMUS); Rpt .: RSCAS / EUDO-CIT-CR 2010/29 [not error-free]
  • Schwartz, Gustav; Right of citizenship in Germany and abroad since 1914; Berlin 1925 (Springer)
  • Šileikis, E .; Minority protection in Lithuania; in: Manssen, Gerrit (ed.); Protection of minorities in Central and Eastern Europe; Frankfurt 2001 (Lang), pp. 101-28; ISBN 3631379226
  • Sinkevičius, V .; Lietuvos Respublikos pilietybė 1918–2001 metais; Vilnius 2002 (Teisinės informacijos centras)
  • Sipavičienė, Audra; Report for Lithuania: Recent Developments in International Migration and Migration Policy in Lithuania, 2017; Vilnius 2018 [OECD Expert meeting, Paris, October 29-31, 2018]

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The short-lived Soviet republics LSSR (from December 16, 1918) and the Lithuanian-Belarusian Socialist Soviet Republic (February to September 1919), part of the turmoil of the Polish-Soviet war, cannot be discussed here. Further information: Rutenberg, G .; Recognition of the Lithuanian state; ZaöRV, Vol. I (1929), pp. 250-63.
  2. ↑ Published in the State Gazette No. 2/3 on January 16, Strictly speaking, unconstitutional, as the cabinet only received legislative competence on January 24.
  3. ↑ Complete section after: Schwartz, Gustav; Right of citizenship in Germany and abroad since 1914; Berlin 1925 (Springer), pp. 142, 280-5.
  4. ↑ Ratified on Oct. 14, State Gazette No. 53 of Nov. 30, 1920.
  5. ↑ State Gazette No. 94, June 22, 1922; changed no.146, December 22, 1923.
  6. ↑ July 9, 1921. Two-year option from the date of ratification.
  7. ↑ In the regions of Palanga and Mažeikiai (LIT) and Ilūkste (LET). Cf. Zenonas Butkus; Great Britain's mediation in establishing the Lithuanian-Latvian Frontier, 1920-1921 Journal of Baltic Studies, Vol. 24 (1993), pp. 359-86.
  8. ↑ Published in the State Gazette No. 100 on Aug. 6, 1922.
  9. ↑ October 18, 1937, in effect July 20, 1938.
  10. ↑ 1932: 1 litas = 42 ₰; when the Memelland was annexed in 1939: 40 ₰.
  11. ^ Memel Convention (May 8, 1924, ratified July 30; Lithuanian State Gazette No. 169), which also created the status of "Citizen of Memel" and Memel Statute, Art. 8, 9. In addition, the option treaty between the German Reich and Lithuania 1925 (RGBl. II, 1925, pp. 59ff., 107), which set the cut-off date for questions of citizenship on July 30, 1924. See also arbitration award on a difference of opinion between the government of the German Reich and the government of the Republic of Lithuania regarding the citizenship of different persons; printed in ZaöRV , 1937, pp. 881–919 .
  12. ^ German and Prussian law came into force again on May 1, 1939 ( law on the reunification of the Memelland with the German Reich 1939-02-23), i. V. m. the German-Lithuanian Treaty on Citizenship of the Memel Countries, RGBl. II, Nov. 17, 1939, p. 999. Further: Events 1918–1939 .
  13. ^ Ordinance of September 7, 1940, promulgated in Vědomosti Verchovnogo Soveta, September 17, 1940, No. 31; German translation: Zschr. for Eastern European Law, NF, Vol. 7, p. 184 ff.
  14. ^ For Lithuanians who had lived in Memelland on March 22, 1939 , a separate ordinance was issued in 1947. Balts living abroad were allowed to register in consulates until November 1, 1940. For those living in Latin America who missed the deadline, the ordinance of April 30, 1948 allowed a grace period until July 1, 1949. (Data from United Nations Legislative Series: Laws Concerning Nationality , 1954.)
  15. ^ Which, from a Lithuanian point of view, was occupied by Poland from 1919/20 to October 1939. Residents living here in 1939, who would have been entitled to Lithuanian citizenship in 1920, became Lithuanians in November 1939, and then Soviet people in June 1940.
  16. ^ Arriving with the Lublin Committee September 22, 1944 and Poland March 25, 1957.
  17. ↑ Offic. engl. Ex . : Republic of Lithuania Law on Citizenship, No. VIII-391, I-2027, 5 December 1991, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b5960.html (zggr. 2020-05-19). In terms of content, the Soviet Citizenship Law 1978 is an obvious model.
  18. ↑ The exact definition was changed five times by several constitutional court rulings and legislative changes in 1994-7 alone.
  19. ↑ Inserted December 14, 1993. 1991-96 this group of people was not allowed to reacquire.
  20. ↑ The corresponding rules for the re-naturalization of Lithuanians abroad were the subject of several negative constitutional court judgments.
  21. ↑ Sept. 17, 2002, in effect Jan. 1, 2003.
  22. ↑ Ref. 45 / 03-36 / 04 . The stumbling block was the election of Valdas Adamkus as president. He had lived in the USA since 1949, had served in the Air Force there and was a US citizen.
  23. ↑ Dec. 2, 2010 No XI-1196, amendments a. a. June 23, 2016 No XII-2473. Because of the planned relaxation of the ban on dual nationals, the President initially vetoed on November 18, 2010. He wanted to prevent non-EU or non-NATO citizens from being allowed to be dual nationals.
  24. ↑ Formalities according to Ordinance No. 280 of April 3, 2013.
  25. ↑ Acquisition of citizenship, dataset: TPS00024.
  26. ↑ Nov. 20, 2015, in effect Dec. 28. Inheritance for foreign births beyond the 2nd generation.
  27. ↑ Lietuvos Respublikos pilietybės įstatymo No. XI-1196 2 ir 7 straipsnių pakeitimo įstatymas, June 23, 2016 (XII-2473), published July 5, in force July 6.

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