According to the minister, Gitanas Nausėda’s proposals would encourage migrants to come to Lithuania only for a short time.
“I do not like the encouragement of short-term relationships in Lithuania. When we encourage third-country nationals to come for as short a time as possible and rotate a lot, they have no responsibility. They work here for two or three months doing anything, can get fines, they can do anything, then leave for their Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and you won’t find them there for a hundred years. Then others come again and they rotate and rotate and it is an endless process,” I. Ruginienė said to Žinių radijas on Tuesday.
According to the minister, immigrants would not learn Lithuanian or integrate into society in a short time.
“Lobbying for third-country nationals is inhumane and now we have presidential amendments that open wide doors for the arrival of those third-country nationals. It is proposed that for two terms of two years each, Lithuanian language proficiency would not even be required. If today we have a rule that a foreigner coming to work in the service sector, when they need to communicate and interact with other people, should know at least one level (Lithuanian language – BNS). With this proposal, we now seem to want to introduce that maybe language proficiency is not necessary,” explained I. Ruginienė.
“This means that the arrival and use of cheap labor from third countries can be very encouraged thanks to lobbyists. Very ambiguous and strange proposals and there is no single common system or logic,” she added.
On the other hand, according to the Minister of Social Security and Labor, Lithuania should not “open the gates widely” to immigrants.
“I primarily advocate for controlled migration. I think we definitely should not open the gates widely to let in workers from third countries who undercut our wages and working conditions. We need only as much as is critically necessary, and we cannot find them among our citizens and there are indeed professions, like IT specialists, nurses, that we lack, where (…) we simply do not have our own people. But more and more there is a desire to open the doors wider,” commented I. Ruginienė.
According to the minister, the state should encourage immigrants to stay in Lithuania longer and integrate into society.
“I think that long-term relationships, when a worker is interested in being here longer and honestly paying taxes – those are the workers we should encourage. Workers who want to integrate and who want to contribute to our system. Now we have gotten used to consuming things, we consume people and such fast consumption brings slavery, human trafficking, tax evasion, shadow economy. If we change the established order now and encourage that, the problems will deepen,” said I. Ruginienė.
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As BNS wrote, in mid-July the Seimas approved the president’s proposed bill after consideration. According to the Presidency, the head of state thus seeks both better migration management and to address the problem of labor shortages in the country’s economy.
It was announced that fixed-term work permits would be most suitable for foreigners who do not intend to live permanently or stay longer in Lithuania, coming only to work, for example, as long-distance drivers, construction workers for no longer than two years. A faster arrival and application review procedure is proposed so that businesses can hire them faster if they cannot find local workers, but after two years of work they would have to leave Lithuania for at least six months.
Restrictions on living in Lithuania would not apply to highly qualified workers from third countries.
According to the Presidency, the new model would complement the current long-term immigration system, but its annual quota under both models would not be increased – it cannot exceed 1.4% of Lithuania’s population. The specific total quota size and proportion would be proposed annually by the Government, not the Ministry of Social Security and Labor as it is now.
The amendments provide that those applying for a residence permit in Lithuania for the third time within ten years would have to pass a Lithuanian language exam. This would apply to both temporary immigration models.
In addition, the head of state proposes strengthening the national security compliance check for foreigners by extending the minimum check periods.
According to the Seimas Legal Department, the amendments contradict the European directive because under it the validity of a fixed two-year work permit could not be extended in case of unemployment.
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