Lietuvių A2

Who does not have to take the state language exam

5 min read

Documents laid out on a desk — a school leaving certificate, a language certificate and a residence permit card.

Before registering for the exam, check one thing: you may not need to sit it at all. Lithuanian law contains several groups to whom the exam does not apply, or who are treated as already holding the required category. Some of those groups are very large.

Understand the structure first: exemptions are not interchangeable. Some apply only to employment, some only to citizenship, some replace the exam with an education document. And there is one case that looks like an exemption but is not one.

1. Temporary protection — for employment only

Paragraph 4 of nutarimas Nr. 1688 provides that for foreigners who have been granted temporary protection in Lithuania, the state language proficiency categories do not apply for the purposes of being employed and/or working on a self-employed basis.

That is a significant exemption, and it also covers the new 2026 service-sector duty.

But it goes no further. The provision speaks about employment and self-employment. It does not cover the exam for a permanent residence permit, and it does not cover the exam for citizenship. Someone working under temporary protection today who applies for permanent residence in a few years' time will sit the exam then.

2. Education instead of an exam

Paragraphs 10 to 12 of the aprašas list the cases in which a person is deemed to hold a category without an exam — a document is enough.

Deemed to hold the third category (not lower than B2), §10:

  • basic, secondary or higher education obtained in Lithuanian (including an aukštesnysis qualification obtained before 2009 and a specialised secondary qualification obtained before 1995);
  • completion in Lithuania of a foreign-state or international-organisation education programme in which Lithuanian was taught;
  • secondary education obtained at an institution abroad where the language of instruction was Lithuanian, or where Lithuanian was taught;
  • since 1991, completion in Lithuania of a secondary (or adult secondary, or initial vocational together with secondary) programme in a non-Lithuanian language of instruction, together with an exam confirming knowledge of Lithuanian.

Deemed to hold the first category (not lower than A2), §11:

  • persons who obtained secondary education in a national-minority language before 1991, if Lithuanian was taught.

Paragraph 12 adds one more route: a person who has passed the state language exam for citizenship purposes is deemed to hold the first category and a level not lower than A2. So an exam passed inside the citizenship procedure also counts for employment purposes — you do not sit the same thing twice.

3. You already hold a certificate

Paragraph 6 of the aprašas approved by nutarimas Nr. 1687: no state language exam is required of a person who has already obtained the first, second or third category by examination and produces the document proving it.

In practice a higher category covers a lower one: if you hold the second or third category, you do not sit the first-category exam.

4. Age and health — inside the citizenship procedure

Article 18(4) of the Citizenship Act lists the groups to whom neither requirement applies — neither the state language exam nor the Constitution basics exam:

  • persons who have reached the age of 65;
  • persons with an established level of capacity for work of 0–55 %;
  • persons who have reached old-age pension age and have an established level of large or medium special needs;
  • persons suffering from severe chronic mental illnesses.

These exemptions sit in the Citizenship Act, so they operate within the citizenship procedure. Before relying on a specific wording, check the current consolidated text of the Act in the Register of Legal Acts (https://e-seimas.lrs.lt) — the list may have been amended since the Act was adopted.

Article 19(2) adds one more case: the spouse of a Lithuanian citizen who is a deportee (tremtinys), a political prisoner, or their child born in exile sits only the Constitution basics exam.

5. Disability is a different format, not an exemption

This is the most commonly misunderstood point, so let us be blunt about it.

If a person cannot sit the written test for objective reasons (disability, for example), they are given the opportunity to sit the exam orally, with questions drawn from the same programme.

That is an alternative form of the exam. The exam remains, its content remains, the requirement remains — only the method changes. You have to request this format in advance, when registering.

What this article does not claim

  • About EU, EEA and Swiss citizens. Paragraph 7 speaks of „workers" and is not limited to third-country nationals. Whether an EU citizen working as, say, a shop assistant falls within it is something we could not establish reliably, so we make no claim — ask your employer and the state language supervision authority.
  • Exemptions do not extend by analogy. If your situation is similar but not identical to the one described in the legal act, assume the exemption does not apply until a competent authority confirms in writing that it does.

If none of these cases fits you, it is time to prepare: exam tasks and writing and speaking with feedback.

Sources

Last verified: 12 August 2026.

„Lietuvių A2" is an independent exam-preparation website. We are not an examination centre and not a law firm; we are not affiliated with any institution that organises or recognises state language examinations. This text is for information only and is not legal advice. Whether an exemption applies depends on your individual documents, so before deciding not to register, check your own situation with the migration authority and with the body that administers the exam.

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