Published: 24.09.2026
Lithuania’s interior minister announced the closure of outsourced migration-service offices in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also outlined plans to eliminate external providers and move toward a temporary labour-migration model; the annual quota of 24,700 foreign workers had already been reached.
The closure of these offices changes the usual application channel for residence permits for applicants from four countries. According to the source, Schengen visas can still be handled through embassies and consulates, but labour migration is already constrained by the exhausted annual quota, with work-based permits available only in cases provided by law. The proposed model would give workers a clearly limited stay of two years followed by at least six months outside Lithuania. The development primarily affects citizens of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as employers planning to hire foreign workers.