The consular pages call this reinstatement of citizenship, and the whole case turns on one date, 15 June 1940. This overview follows the Lithuanian foreign ministry’s consular pages and recent news, as of October 2026. Confirm every detail with the official source.
Who can reinstate citizenship
According to the Lithuanian foreign ministry’s consular pages, persons who held citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania before 15 June 1940, and their descendants (children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren), have an indefinite right to reinstate Lithuanian citizenship, whether they live in Lithuania or in another state. The Seimas amended the law on 20 January 2022 to define a person who held citizenship before 15 June 1940 and to exclude people who lost it through a formal decision, with the aim, according to the Migration Department, of easing the burden of proof.
What you must prove
- That your ancestor held citizenship. Documents the consular pages give as examples include internal or foreign passports of the Republic of Lithuania issued before 15 June 1940 and personal certificates issued before that date. If none exist, documents about studies, work and life in Lithuania before that date may be accepted, and the Lithuanian Central State Archives can be asked for documents showing that a person held citizenship.
- That you descend from that person. Documents showing the relationship, for which birth, marriage and death records from before 1940 can be requested from the Lithuanian State Historical Archives.
- How you file. The documents are submitted through the Migration Department or a Lithuanian embassy or consulate. One consulate’s page says that when the file has no deficiencies, the Migration Department sends a message through its MIGRIS system and the applicant must visit the consulate in person within four months with the originals.
See our records map for the archives that hold these documents.
Dual citizenship is the catch
Under current law, Lithuania does not allow multiple citizenship in most cases. The consular pages list exceptions for persons exiled from occupied Lithuania before 11 March 1990, and for persons who left Lithuania before that date, together with their descendants, and LRT adds children of mixed families. The Migration Department and the Supreme Administrative Court tie the exception for people who left to those who held citizenship until the Soviet occupation on 15 June 1940 and to their descendants. Whether you must give up another citizenship therefore depends on which category you fall into.
The referendums, and what is pending
- 2019 and 2024. Two referendums on allowing dual citizenship were held. In 2024, 74.49 percent of voters said yes, but the yes votes were only about 43 percent of registered voters and more than half were required, so the amendment failed.
- October 2026. LRT reported on 2 October 2026 that three amendments to the Citizenship Law had been registered in the Seimas: one to tighten the procedure for revoking citizenship, one to widen the definition of people deported or persecuted during the Soviet occupations, and one to let Lithuanians who acquire citizenship in NATO countries, and some others such as Malta and Ireland, keep Lithuanian citizenship. They were expected to be considered in the autumn session, and they are proposals, not law.
Citizenship, DNA and ancestry
None of the official pages we read lists DNA as evidence, and an ancestry result does not show that a relative held citizenship in 1940. The case depends on documents. See the DNA hub for what a test can do.
Go deeper
- Read the full walkthrough in Restoring Lithuanian Citizenship: The Complete Guide.
- Browse every article in Restoring Lithuanian Citizenship.
- Start your research with the first-weekend guide.
Sources include a Lithuanian consulate’s citizenship page, another consulate’s page, a Migration Department note on the 1940 requirement, a note on the 2022 amendment, Wikipedia on the 2024 referendum and LRT’s report on the new amendments.
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