Lithuania

Start-up visa. A temporary residence permit for non-EU founders of an innovative company endorsed by Startup Lithuania; there is no fixed company-capital requirement, only proof you can support yourself. A separate, unbranded 'business visa' for shareholders of an operating company (needing €28,000 in company equity) is often confused with this one but is a different route.

Free · The law behind every answer · Checked Sep 27, 2026

Start-up visa

A temporary residence permit, typically issued for up to 1 year initially and renewable while the business operates.

Who qualifies

Get an innovative, scalable business idea endorsed by the Startup Lithuania committee; register the company in Lithuania within 120 days of the residence permit being issued.
Law on the Legal Status of Aliens, Art. 45(1)(13), start-up residence permit; Startup Lithuania endorsement criteria
Show subsistence funds of at least Lithuania's minimum monthly wage, €1,153 a month in 2026 (about $1,268), plus health insurance of at least €30,000; no minimum company capital is required.
Migration Department, subsistence-funds requirement for national visas and residence permits

Whether you keep your U.S. citizenship depends on the route you take later.

Does it fit your family?

One question, from the program’s own rules.

Steady monthly income, from any source?

Not legal advice.

What it takes.

Income: At least $1,268 a month, steady and documented.
Time: 2–3 months for endorsement, then 1–2 months for the permit.
Cost: About $1,000–2,500 in fees and legal costs; no capital investment is required beyond ordinary company-registration costs.
The hard part: Getting Startup Lithuania to endorse the business as innovative and scalable, not a plain trading or services company.

Dollar figures are converted from the local currency at the rate the program’s research used; the official figure is in the local currency.

Citizens by 2038.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

2027
First residence permit
2 years, renewable for 3 years at a time.
2029
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 3 years.
2032
Permanent residence
Five years on temporary residence permits. Trips abroad may not last more than 6 months in a row or 10 months in total. Pass the Lithuanian language exam and the exam on the basics of the Constitution.
2037
Apply for citizenship
With a language test and a civics test.
2038
Citizenship

Language: Lithuanian at the state's first category (about A2), by a test and an interview.
Civics: A written test on the basics of the Lithuanian Constitution.
Time away: Ten years of continuous, lawful residence in Lithuania, holding permanent residence both when you apply and when the decision is made.
Two passports: Usually not: new citizens are asked to give up their other citizenship.

A temporary residence permit, so the years count toward the 5 years for permanent residence.
The first-category (about A2) language level is confirmed; whether the permanent-residence language exam is at the same level was not stated on the page we read.
No absence limit for the ten-year citizenship clock and no official processing time were found.
LT-STARTUP: the Startup Visa Lithuania guidebook states 2 years then 3-year renewals for family members' permits; the founder's own permit is reported the same way but not stated on that page.
How long the decision takes isn’t published; we allow a year.
This country asks new citizens to give up their other citizenship.

The law behind these dates

Startup Visa Lithuania guidebook (2025): permits issued for 2 years, renewable for 3 · checked 2026-09-25
Migration Information Centre, Permanent residence permit · checked 2026-09-25
Migration Information Centre, Lithuanian citizenship · checked 2026-09-25
Law on Citizenship, Art. 12: be stateless, lose the old citizenship by law, or declare in writing that you will renounce it · checked 2026-09-25

Living there.

Time you must spend there: Tied to actively running the endorsed company in Lithuania; there is no fixed day-count, but the Migration Department checks the business is genuinely operating at renewal.
Tax: Lithuanian tax residence follows the 183-day rule once operating the business there.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

Start today.

Review Startup Lithuania's eligibility criteria and application steps.Open startuplithuania.com ↗
Round up the papers.
- Proof of steady income: at least $1,268 a month
- Request your FBI Identity History Summary
- Health insurance that meets the program’s rules

Or let us run it.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.Standard first year: $1,200. Everyone renews at $399.One membership, the whole family. Accounts and activation included.

19 steps, from the first paper to the passport. You do 4 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Accounts and activation are included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Accounts depend on provider availability. Government, record and approved third-party charges are extra.

Run it for my family →

ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

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