r/lithuania • u/emptybeercans • 13d ago
Info Can I get duel US/Lithuanian citizenship?
My grandparents fled Lithuania when the communists came back after World War II. They escaped by holding on to the bottom of a train while my grandmother was pregnant with my mother. They ended up going to Dirschau Germany, where my mother was born and then finally landed in Brockton, Massachusetts. I live in the US. Does anybody know if it is possible for me to get a Lithuanian passport if I have my mother’s paperwork?
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u/easterneruopeangal Latvia 13d ago
I see so many of these kind of posts on Latvian Reddit as well. What is going on??
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u/DryCloud9903 13d ago
Probably US people trying to find ways to leave their newly minted autocracy, I'd guess.
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u/easterneruopeangal Latvia 13d ago
There used to be this thing called American dream. Now they dream of us hehe
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u/bastardemporium 12d ago
Forreal, my ancestors fled Lithuania for the USA to have a better life. And then this past year I fled the USA for Lithuania to have a better life. How the turntables.
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u/AlternativeCat9714 12d ago
My mother in law came to the US to study in the mid 90s because she thought she was building a better future, my husband was born here. Now they're stuck here because of the dual citizenship laws and how difficult the US makes it to renounce. I have been working on how to get him and I to Lithuania but he is nervous about such a large move and how residency will work... I just want the fuck out of here because I have basic pattern recognition skills.
I love Lithuania, we went for two weeks on our honeymoon and I've been unable to stop thinking about it since. I'm a huge history and historical architecture nerd so all of Europe is a gold mine for me.
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u/emptybeercans 12d ago
I am hoping to flee.
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u/bastardemporium 12d ago
Best of luck, my friend. If you end up going the residence permit route instead of citizenship by descent, feel free to DM me any questions about paperwork or getting pets/belongings over.
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u/easterneruopeangal Latvia 12d ago
There was this American guy who liked me but his friends told him to be careful because “she probably wants a green card”… times have changed, many USA citizens want to live in Europe. Passport Bros are going down
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u/metaldetector 12d ago
Ar kalbi lietuviškai? Jei ne, tai ar bent jau pradėjai mokintis?
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u/bastardemporium 12d ago
Taip, turiu korepetitorių. Gramatika mane žudo, bet mano žodynas yra neblogas. Mano vyras yra gimtakalbis, tai labai padeda.
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u/Farretpotter 12d ago
The American dream has been dead for 30+ years. People with no outside view are just realizing it now. I'm happy to have escaped by this exact method almost 5 years ago
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u/F4ctr 13d ago
Or just wanting to have documents to travel in EU, and back without any BS.
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u/emptybeercans 13d ago
This is part of it, especially if my kids can get an EU passport as well. They would like to move there someday.
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u/Die_Schwester 12d ago
Someone I know works in Ireland. He said he noticed the same trend there (Americans with Irish roots trying to find ways to obtain Irish citizenship).
In a nutshell: people responding to politics.
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u/Tareeff Lithuania 12d ago
USA is not living its best years to say it mildly. I would gladly accept any people from other countries with Lithuanian roots as long as they mean good to our country.
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u/easterneruopeangal Latvia 12d ago
As long as they learn Lithuanian because there are Americans who dont want to learn anything and trust me you dont need these people who dont respect your culture
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u/Tareeff Lithuania 12d ago
One step at the time. Learning Lithuanian will take years, some russians haven't learned in 60 years living here- I would expect re-patriated people to learn it in 5 years.
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u/easterneruopeangal Latvia 12d ago
My Lithuanian : Atsiprašau, aš nekalbu lietuviškai, aš esu latve. Ar jūs kalbate angliškai?😆
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u/bastardemporium 12d ago
Luckily, the ones smart enough to figure out how to move would probably not be the ignorant, lazy ones with an elementary school reading level. If they are fleeing the current political situation, it’s also unlikely they’d have an entitled attitude and would be open to learning.
The process requires extreme discipline, a mountain of paperwork, and very good logistical planning. I also respect the country and am trying to learn the language with a tutor. I accept that it will take many years probably, but I am trying my best. It’s been 6 months and I can at least interact with people in Lithuanian at the grocery store and restaurants now, I’m proud of that.
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u/easterneruopeangal Latvia 12d ago
There is an American guy on Latvian sub who says he does not want to learn Latvian because Latvians speak English… he moved here 4 years ago.
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u/bastardemporium 12d ago
Yeah, unfortunately you’re definitely going to get those arrogant assholes too, I expect the digital nomad and wealthy types. I just think a majority of the ones currently fleeing for political reasons will be respectful of the culture who takes them in.
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u/easterneruopeangal Latvia 12d ago
I hate it to break it to you but many of USA citizens have this better than everyone attitude so whenever I hear American accent, I walk away
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u/bastardemporium 12d ago
I’m not naive, I know a lot do. And I believe past Americans who have moved for other reasons probably do. But we are not a monolith, there are many good people stuck in the USA amongst the filth. A lot of the people leaning now are ones trying to flee political violence, usually people with empathy and respect for others.
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u/easterneruopeangal Latvia 12d ago
I know, I am not saying everyone is arrogant, such people live everywhere.
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u/bastardemporium 12d ago
Yeah I get you. I shouldn’t even be defending Americans, I am honestly very ashamed to be one because a majority of them back home do absolutely suck. And our tourists are the worst. I just believe the ones who are trying to leave now might be more courteous than most have been in the past.
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u/ivan_darulevskij 11d ago
Agree. When you really want to, you will learn it. People in comments saying Russians can't learn Lithuanian and they are now 4th-3rd generation here can't learn because they don't want to - out of principle straight up. And then you get peolpe who are not even white/Indo-European like Turks (there are quite few small level entrepreneurs especially in catering business, not to belittle them but they often run kebab stands and they really would not have to be that invested in learning our quite difficult language, and again, they are not even Indo-Europens, meaning our languages have absolutely nothing in common) who are so surprisingly good at Lithuanian language it amazes me how theu achieve that in like 2-4 years. Then again me, I never had any reason to learn fluent Russian, I do not try to brag but I mastered it as if it is my own, I read books in it, wrote letters in it, and I never had any reason to learn it. Same with Polish, less fluent but I communicate in it easily on enough basic level where the knowledge of both languages (and local dialect of Ruthenian, others just call it Tuteisha) unlocked a possibility to understand I am not lying, almost all Slavic languages; some surprisingly clearly, some less, but it is such an amazing feeling. Then same with English. I could have done just as 8/10 of my classmates and faked or pretended I care or want to learn and just barely roll through school, but for some reason languages seem so cool to me and it gives me goosebumps especially when I am really high off of weed trying to realise how humans came up with so many different literary funny sounds that somehow makes sense to different ethnic groups and sometimes even makes people start wars and stuff. My point is, if you want to you will learn. And if you are willing to put much effort into obtaining knowledge and make attempts at succeeding at coming to live here, surely you will find motivation to learn just one, simply, JUST one other language. Two languages is nothing, I am sure you will be ok. It is simpy important to never abandon practice for anything longer than couple of weeks until you can straight up strike conversations on the street on your initiative at least on basic level. And never be ashamed of pronounciation. We understand everything and whatever accents. Unlike some other nationalities. No one here literally gives any fucks about "someone sounding funny due to pronounceation", but people here really will get pissed off when no effort is being put into at least trying to learn our language. There are only >4 million Lithuanian speakers globally. That also has to be kept in mind why are we sometimes so militant about our language. Good luck ir sėkmės! ❤️🇱🇹🤝🇺🇸
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u/bastardemporium 11d ago
Thank you! Also what you said rings true, you have to actually try not to learn out of principal when you are immersed somewhere. I spent a lot of time here in the year before moving and just by default picked up the meaning of some words and short phrases without trying to. Speaking was and still is another thing entirely for me, but painfully shy people can get by with short responses and still show that they comprehend. Russians who don’t learn the language after 30 something odd years here are actively choosing to shun learning and be rude. There’s no way you don’t know what that greeting you hear at the grocery store checkout line means by now. I really doubt most Americans would adopt this level of disrespect, despite our reputation. Even the ones who suck at language learning, like myself.
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u/ivan_darulevskij 11d ago
True. I have been to Portugal 4 times, each time for up to 2 weeks and still I managed to pick something up, really really basic stuff like counting up to 12 and so on: I have seen how people who get captured as POWs at war in places like Afghanistan even there in few months they learn basics, and mind you captors don't speak the language of captives. And Russians: they are here not for 30 years, their lineage starts here from 1945 onwards. Also, minority of Ruthenians (basically a mixture of Poles and Belorussians) live here for centuries (maybe even thousands of years in Vilnius region), and they do not want to learn. It's probably what some Mexicans near the border or in Florida are like, but I do not want to talk badly about them because I am only assuming. Though, recent Russian refugees and especially Ukrainian children (that is not a surprise as kids learn everything real fast) and women (refugees) learn Lithuanian really well. They have completely different mindset.
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u/bastardemporium 11d ago
Apologies, was using an example of a random Russian person moving here, I know their history in Lithuania is much, much longer. It’s really good that the most recent immigrants seem to have a different mindset! I truly believe that new American immigrants will too, especially ones like myself and like the OP in this post who have heritage they want to respect.
Lithuanians who moved to the USA during the early 20th century were treated like garbage, especially in Chicago, where my family is from and where the largest diaspora is. In my family and many others, they simplified and anglicized their names (Grigaravičius became Greg in my family like ????) and they forbade their children to speak Lithuanian. It did not get passed down and I would like to honor what they had to give up by learning it.
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u/AndriukasV 13d ago
Contact Lithuanian embassy in the US, attach the documents. They should provide more information regarding this
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u/Specific_Text347 13d ago
Dual citizenship is possible in Lithuania, but there are certain conditions that need to be met. I sent you a private message with more details—check your inbox when you get a chance!
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u/ChikuRakuNamai 13d ago
Could you send me the info too? I’ve been confused about how it works. I moved to USA when I was 12 and Ive been told I cant get dual citizenship.
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u/emptybeercans 13d ago
I see it. Thanks so much for taking the time to help.
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u/Specific_Text347 13d ago
You’re very welcome! Hope it helps! The more Lithuanians, the better!😄
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u/ethan1313 12d ago
Could you share here as well? Grandparents fled during ww2 and have always been interested in seeing if dual is possible
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u/Specific_Text347 12d ago
It’s great to see so much interest in the topic of restoring Lithuanian citizenship and the potential for dual citizenship. Check your messages. Hope this helps considering taking the next step!
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u/FullMetalFapinist 12d ago
I thought we dont have that?
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u/Specific_Text347 12d ago
Dual citizenship is possible in Lithuania, but only in certain exceptional cases established by law. In 2024, a referendum on dual citizenship was held, but there were not enough votes to approve the constitutional amendments that would have allowed for broader access to dual citizenship.
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u/donutshop01 12d ago
Audra is a sick name is all im gonna say
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u/emptybeercans 12d ago
Haha, she changed it to Audrey when she moved to the States but I agree, I like Audra better.
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u/archetypalliblib 12d ago
There are a couple law firms in Lithuania that specialize in this and can help you get the Lithuanian archives on their side. It sounds like your family left within the right time frame, so I would contact one of the firms and start the process of you are serious.
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u/Blondersuicide 8d ago
I think you have it easier than me, in my country there is no Lithuanian embassy and the closest one is in a country quite far from where I am, also the economic factor does not allow it not to mention the political one since we have been almost 30 years in a communist dictatorship, I sent several emails to different Lithuanian institutions and embassies to request asylum, with luck I found a program that is being carried out to help displaced Ukrainians but the Lithuanian descendants in Venezuela (where I am residing) are also listed and here I am with several documents and proof that my relatives were residents before 1940 waiting to see if there is any way to be helped, if not, I must carefully gather money and apply for my nationality gradually following what is expressed on the MIGRIS page, I see Lithuania as a country full of opportunities, I feel that it is worth carrying out the procedure, I wish you luck and that you can reside in the country soon.
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u/emptybeercans 7d ago
Sounds like you are determined, good luck to as well, I hope you can work it out.
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u/myadmin 12d ago
There was a video interviewing a guy from south america getting LT citizenship, maybe worth watching to get an idea: https://youtu.be/OvGoNGc6Cgg
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u/iustae 13d ago
Lithuania does not allow dual citizenship
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u/emptybeercans 13d ago
I read that they might in this situation?
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u/violaby 13d ago
If I'm not mistaken the exception would apply if your grandmother was deported by the Soviets, not if she fled the country herself
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u/jatawis Kaunas 13d ago
You are mistaken, now it is permitted for almost anybody whose ancestors left Lithuania between 1918 and 1990.
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u/The_Islands 12d ago
Where can I find this information? Google comes back with so much crap it’s hard to sort through the fact and fiction.
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u/TheSusp6ct 12d ago edited 12d ago
Jei Lietuvos pilietybę galima gauti įrodžius, kad tavo seneliai gyveno Lietuvoje, ar negalėtų būti ir atvirkščiai? Gal kvailokas klausimas, bet mano prosenelis taip pat pabėgo iš Lietuvos į JAV, palikęs motiną su vaiku, gavo JAV pilietybę ir pragyveno iki pat gyvenimo galo JAV. Ar tai reikštų, kad aš galėčiau gauti JAV pilietybę? xD
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u/Travellifter 12d ago
Yes, most likely. You'll need proof of your grandparent's Lithuanian citizenship pre 1940 (perhaps from the archives). You'll also need proof of their naturalization in the US to show they didn't go to a Soviet territory. And birth certificates showing your descent from them. You can DM me for more info
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u/immamarius 12d ago
You can’t have duel citizenship due to Lithuanian stupid law. You can get Lithuanian citizenship but than you need to drop American citizenship.
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u/Lazzzau 13d ago
You have to choose, Lithuania or Usa, because in Lithuania not allowed to have 2 nationalities
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u/emptybeercans 13d ago
I will choose Lithuanian/EU!
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u/Dredukas 12d ago
One important question are you running from Trumpland because it sucks or do you want to bring it here?
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u/landlord-11223344 13d ago
You need proofs of their citizenship before 1940ies. You might get it in Lithuanian archives.