The head of the Constitutional Court Dainius Žalimas announced that according to the constitution of Lithuania, the Seimas cannot establish by law that Lithuanian citizens who have left after the restoration of independence (in 1990) may be both citizens of Lithuania and another state without a referendum and the amendment of the constitution.
The question was whether a law could establish the right to have dual citizenship after the restoration of independence to the citizens of the European Union (EU) and NATO countries. The constitution states that except for “individual cases”, no one can be simultaneously a Lithuanian citizen and a citizen of another state.
The Constitutional Court has previously stated that dual citizenship cannot be a widespread phenomenon, therefore, the constitution would be in conflict with the legalization of dual citizenship by the law for those people who left the country after the restoration of independence in 1990. “Only a change in the provision of Article 12 of the constitution may be waived in the field of restriction of multiple citizenships,” the chairman of the Constitutional Court Dainius Žalimas commented.
“In 2013, the Constitutional Court said that it was not possible to establish such a general permit for being a citizen of any country and a citizen of Lithuania, as this leads to a widespread phenomenon (dual citizenship), and it has been repeatedly stated that regulation cannot create preconditions for multiple citizenships as a widespread phenomenon” , – D. Žalimas argued.
The Constitutional Court states that the expanding of the institution of dual citizenship could be done in line with the direction of Euro-Atlantic integration – i.e. granting dual citizenship to Lithuanians who left Lithuania to European Union and NATO countries.
At present, you can get a dual Lithuanian citizenship if at least one of your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents were Lithuanian citizens and left Lithuania some time from 1918 to 1990. Dual Lithuanian citizenship means that you can get Lithuanian citizenship/passport and keep your current citizenship, according to Lithuanian law. Recently Lithuanian citizenship law was changed allowing descendants of Lithuanian citizens that left prior to 1940 to get dual Lithuanian citizenship (until recently they were eligible only for single Lithuanian citizenship and had to renounce their current citizenship).
Contact us now if you want to get dual Lithuanian citizenship.
