Today, it was reported that the first Belarusians who had applied for an extension of their Lithuanian residence permit on humanitarian grounds received their new permits valid for 3 years. Previously, such residence permits had to be renewed annually. This indicates that the law recently adopted by Lithuania has come into effect.
These changes also partially address the issue of travel documents for this category of Belarusians, as their validity is now tied to the residence permit’s expiration date. Previously, after obtaining a new residence permit, Belarusians who could not renew their Belarusian passport had to renew their Lithuanian alien travel document annually. Now it will also be valid for three years.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “We are very grateful to our Lithuanian partners for these amendments. It is crucial for us that Belarusians who cannot return home due to the regime’s persecution can feel safe and rely on timely assistance from Lithuania”.
