Lithuania to close Central Asian visa centres citing terrorism risks
Lithuania's interior minister has ordered the closure of external service centres in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Bosnia and Herzegovina, citing security and terrorism concerns, as the country also tightens labour migration rules from Central Asia.
Lithuanian Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas announced on Wednesday that he had decided to close branches of an external service provider that processed residence permit and migration applications in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In a Facebook post, Katelynas said an assessment of security and terrorism risks found no justification for keeping the centres open. He referenced warnings from the State Security Department about potential terrorism threats, noting that individuals from Central Asia with radical views or links to terrorism had already been identified. Katelynas said the state could not afford to wait for a risk to turn into an actual incident. He added that Lithuania does not currently plan to open new external service centres elsewhere.
Tied to migration crackdown
The closures coincide with tighter controls on labour migration from Central Asia. Migration Department Director Indrė Gasperė said Tuesday that the number of workers arriving from the region had grown substantially in recent years, and that applications from Central Asian citizens seeking employment-based entry are no longer being accepted. The department said the centres had already been suspended after receiving very high volumes of employment-related applications.
Lithuania's foreign worker quota for 2026 stands at 24,706. Once that quota is exhausted, temporary employment-based residence permits can generally only be issued if additional statutory conditions are met, such as higher salary thresholds or jobs in shortage occupations requiring high qualifications.
The closures also affect Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Lithuania had opened a centre in October 2025 as part of a wider restructuring of countries where foreigners could apply for residence permits and national visas. Migration Department data show that as of September 1, nearly 227,000 foreign nationals held valid residence permits in Lithuania. Ukrainians made up about 80,000 of these, followed by nearly 48,000 Belarusians and roughly 13,000 Russian citizens. Uzbekistan accounted for about 12,600 permit holders, while India and Tajikistan had roughly 9,400 and 7,500, respectively. The number of Uzbek citizens with valid permits rose from about 10,500 at the start of 2026 to more than 12,600 by September, with Tajik citizens increasing to about 7,500 over the same period.
