When the records are not online, you write. Lithuania’s archives are spread over several buildings and towns, each with a different focus, and a good request is short, specific and in the right language. This guide explains who holds what, what to put in a letter, why to write in Lithuanian, which records are restricted and what we could not confirm about fees.
Which archive holds what
| Archive | What it holds, according to a December 2025 guide and the archive service |
|---|---|
| Lithuanian State Historical Archives (LVIA), Mindaugo 8, Vilnius | Church and civil vital records up to 1918, church records to 1940 in the process of digitization, and documents on noble families of the old Vilnius and Kaunas provinces. It preserves almost all eighteenth to twentieth century church books of the Vilnius, Seinai and Telšiai Catholic dioceses, as well as books of Russian Orthodox, Old Believer, Jewish, Evangelical Reformed, Lutheran, Muslim and Karaite churches, and civil marriage registry documents from 1940 to 2007 |
| Lithuanian Central State Archives (LCVA), O. Milašiaus 23, Vilnius | The Republic of Lithuania 1918 to 1940, the Nazi occupation and the Soviet periods. Genealogical sources include passports of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania, documents of army volunteers, conscripts, soldiers and officers, land reform documents, personal files of teachers and students, and 1942 and 1959 census data |
| Lithuanian Special Archives, Gedimino prospektas 40/1, Vilnius | KGB, NKVD and Interior Ministry documents, including deportation files, filtration files and files on people who left Lithuania for permanent residence abroad |
| Regional state archives | Kaunas (with Alytus and Marijampolė branches), Klaipėda (with Tauragė and Telšiai branches), Šiauliai (with a Panevėžys branch) and Vilnius (with an Utena branch) |
| Libraries | The Vilnius University Library, the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and the Martynas Mažvydas National Library hold some church books |
The Office of the Chief Archivist says the Lithuanian State Historical Archives is the main depository of genealogical sources, and that access to many twentieth-century sources is restricted by law. The December 2025 guide adds that the LVIA’s phone number also works for queries in English, and that deportation files can be searched through a separate portal.
Decide where to write
- Pre-1918 church or civil records: the Lithuanian State Historical Archives, or the regional archive for the area if the books are held there.
- Evidence that someone held Lithuanian citizenship before 15 June 1940: the Lithuanian Central State Archives. The Lithuanian foreign ministry’s consular pages say these documents can be requested from it by email. See the citizenship overview.
- Records of deportation, arrest or emigration in Soviet times: the Lithuanian Special Archives.
- More recent church records: the parish or the diocese. FamilySearch says earlier records can be held at the diocese and more recent records at the local parish, and lists the websites of the Telšiai, Šiauliai, Vilkaviškis, Kaišiadorys and Panevėžys dioceses.
What to put in the letter
- The person’s first and family name, and every spelling you know.
- The date and place of birth, marriage or death, as far as you know them.
- The birth order among siblings and the church of baptism, which the Office of the Chief Archivist lists among the essentials.
- The parish and diocese, if you identified them. See our guide to place names and parishes.
- The exact record you want, such as a baptism or a marriage, and the years you suggest.
- Your own name and address, and why you want the record.
Write in Lithuanian
FamilySearch’s advice is to write inquiries in the language of the person receiving them and not to expect an answer in English. It suggests composing the letter with a letter-writing guide and then using an online translator to translate it into Lithuanian. Have a Lithuanian speaker check anything important, especially a request about citizenship.
A sample request
Example (invented, for illustration only): English: “Dear Sir or Madam, I am researching my great-grandfather, Jurgis Arlauskas, baptized about 1880 in the parish of [parish], diocese of [diocese]. I would like to know whether the baptism register for 1875 to 1885 is held at your archive, whether it is digitized and how I can obtain a copy of the entry. I can provide the names of his parents as I understand them. Thank you.” Lithuanian: “Gerbiamieji, aš tiriu savo prosenelį Jurgį Arlauską, pakrikštytą apie 1880 m. [parapija] parapijoje, [vyskupija] vyskupijoje. Norėčiau sužinoti, ar 1875–1885 m. krikšto metrikų knyga saugoma Jūsų archyve, ar ji suskaitmeninta ir kaip galėčiau gauti įrašo kopiją. Galiu pateikti jo tėvų vardus, kaip juos suprantu. Dėkoju.” Have a Lithuanian speaker check the translation before you send it.
Fees and procedures: what we could not confirm
The Office of the Chief Archivist’s website has a price list under its services menu, and each state archive describes its own reading-room days, visiting instructions and how to request searches on its website. We did not verify the current prices or turnaround times, and reading-room hours change, so check the archive’s page before you plan a visit or send money.
After you hit send
- Keep a log: the archive, the date, what you asked for, the reply and the next step.
- Be patient, and follow up politely after several weeks.
- Photograph or scan what you receive, transcribe it in the original language and then translate it. See our guide to reading church books.
- If a record is not found, ask which other repository might hold it, since books can be in a neighboring parish, a regional archive, a library or an archive in another country.
Continue with the complete Lithuanian genealogy guide and our guide to searching online, and browse Archives & Records. Sources: a December 2025 guide to Lithuanian archives, the Office of the Chief Archivist’s genealogical search page, the Lithuanian State Historical Archives’ website and the FamilySearch wiki on Lithuanian church records.
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