Integration initiatives and seasonal work increase in Lithuania

Strengthening the national reception and integration system

Lithuania's Reception and Integration Agency is implementing strategic reforms to improve living conditions for migrants and support their integration into Lithuanian society. The reforms are being made under two EU-funded projects: 'Reception Infrastructure Development and Improvement' and 'Improvement of Reception Conditions'.

The agency currently manages accommodation, legal assistance, social integration and centralised translation services across branches in 4 major cities. It accommodates approximately 400 individuals from 26 countries, with women and children comprising 64% of all residents. The majority are people displaced from Ukraine.

New toolkits to support migrant integration

IOM Lithuania's RISE project developed four toolkits to strengthen community sponsorship and address key questions related to the initiative. The toolkits are intended for volunteers, communities, government officials, and property owners. They provide practical guidance, steps for implementation, best practice examples and ideas on how to mobilise communities, ensure support and promote migrant integration.

Changing public attitudes towards migrants

The Institute of Sociology at the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, together with NGO Diversity Development Group, published the results of the 2024 national survey examining public attitudes in Lithuania towards minority ethnic, religious, migrant and other social groups.

The survey results demonstrate a positive shift in the perception of labour migrants in particular, with increased public support for equal employment opportunities. Compared with the results of the 2023 survey, public acceptance has also increased when it comes to foreign students (79%), family reunification cases (76%), and people arriving in the country having been displaced by war (61%).

Municipality of Jonava leading the way in migrant integration

The municipality of Jonava is seeing an increase in successful migrant integration initiatives. These include the "one-stop shop"-style Immigrant Information Centre, which offers language courses, legal and psychological support, children's day care, and Ukrainian and Syrian Sunday schools, making Jonava home to more Lithuanian-speaking foreigners than most other regions in Lithuania. Migrant-led initiatives are increasing too: Syrian-born Abdulrazzak Awf, who has been living in Lithuania for eight years and initially found employment in a textile factory, is now president of Lithuania's Syrian community and a translator at the local Social Services Centre. Learn more about his work and these initiatives here.

Seasonal work increasing among migrants

In the first half of 2025, Lithuania issued 900 permits for third-country nationals (TCNs) to perform seasonal work: more than twice as many as during the same period last year and the highest number in five years, according to the national employment service.

The prevalence of seasonal work is increasing in Lithuania, with demand driven by summer labour shortages and decreased permit processing times. Men continue to make up the greatest proportion of those being granted seasonal work permits (87%), but the share of women rose from 8% to 13% in 2025. The majority of these women arrived in Lithuania from Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and work as cooks and agricultural assistants. Most seasonal workers in 2025 came from countries in Central Asia: Tajikistan (35%), Uzbekistan (29%), Kyrgyzstan (9%) and Azerbaijan (8%). Road construction was the most common sector in which they were employed (representing 36% of permits), followed by food production (26%) and hospitality (22%).