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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 23:43

Lithuania's law on dual citizenship for merits comes into force

BC, Vilnius, 01.07.2016.Print version
Amendments to Lithuania's Law on Citizenship that allow dual citizenship for outstanding merits to the state came into force on July 1st, 2016, informs LETA/BNS.

The amendments, adopted half a year ago, allow a person with outstanding merits to the state who has lost his or her Lithuanian citizenship to regain it without renouncing his or her citizenship of another state.


A final decision on whether to restore Lithuanian citizenship to a person will be made by President Dalia Grybauskaite, who initiated these amendments last November following media reports that Lithuanian basketball player Zydrunas Ilgauskas had lost his Lithuanian citizenship after becoming a US citizen.


The law defines a citizen's special merits to the state as any activity of the citizen that significantly contributes to the consolidation of Lithuania's statehood and to the strengthening of its power and authority in the international community.


The Lithuanian Constitution does not allow dual citizenship with the exception of certain individual cases provided for by law.


Until now, the Law on Citizenship allowed dual citizenship only for persons who fled Lithuania during its occupation before March 11, 1990 or who acquired citizenship automatically by birth or through marriage.


Dual citizen is not allowed for people who left the country after it regained independence from the Soviet Union.






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