Lietuvių A2

The Lithuanian state language exam at A2: who actually needs it

8 min readUpdated:

A woman sitting a computer-based Lithuanian language exam in a classroom, with headphones on the desk beside her.

Lithuania runs several things that all get called „the Lithuanian language exam", and they are very easy to confuse. This article is about one of them: the state language proficiency exam of the first (I) category, which is administered as a single banded paper called the „Bazinės–I kategorijų (A1–A2 lygio) valstybinės kalbos mokėjimo egzaminas" — the basic-to-first category (A1–A2 level) exam.

This is the exam your employer asks for, the one the migration procedure asks for, and the one the citizenship procedure asks for. It is also the only level in the Lithuanian system that unlocks four different things at once.

First category = A2

The mapping between Lithuanian categories and CEFR levels is not a convention or a guideline — it is written into a Government resolution, paragraph 6 of the aprašas approved by LRV nutarimas Nr. 1688:

  • the basic (bazinė) category corresponds to A1;
  • the first (pirmoji) category corresponds to A2;
  • the second — B1;
  • the third — not lower than B2 (C1 and C2 also count as third category).

So whenever a job advertisement or an official letter says „pirmoji valstybinės kalbos mokėjimo kategorija", read it as A2. That is not an advanced level: it is the level at which a person copes with everyday, predictable situations.

One detail trips almost everyone up: A1 and A2 are not two separate exams. There is one exam whose tasks are split into an A1 band and an A2 band, and a single sitting returns one of three outcomes — „A2 lygis", „A1 lygis" or „Neišlaikyta" (not passed). Exactly how that is computed is a subject of its own: see how the exam is scored.

What this exam unlocks

Situation Level required Legal basis
Customer-facing work — services, production, trade, transport First category (A2) Nutarimas Nr. 1688, aprašo §7
Selling goods or providing services to residents — the new 2026 duty A1 for the first two years, then A2 Same aprašas, §6¹ and the new chapter V (§13–14)
Permanent residence permit (leidimas nuolat gyventi) First category (A2) Law on the Legal Status of Aliens, and nutarimas Nr. 1687, aprašo §5
Lithuanian citizenship First category (A2) plus the Constitution basics exam Citizenship Act Nr. XI-1196, art. 18(1)(3) and (4)

No other level in the Lithuanian system performs more than one of these functions. That is why this one exam matters so much: it is sat by the shop assistant, by the driver, and by the person who after ten years of lawful residence applies for citizenship.

1. Work that involves dealing with people

Paragraph 7 of the aprašas applies the first category to „workers in services, production, trade, transport and other fields, if their work requires them to communicate with people and/or to fill in standard document forms". The resolution names the jobs outright: drivers, cloakroom attendants, waiters, shop assistants and other trade workers.

This is not a narrow rule. According to the Migration Department, roughly 99,550 temporary residence permits (53.6 % of all of them) are issued for work under an employment contract — the single largest group in the country.

2. The new 2026 duty in the service sector

Government resolution Nr. 827 of 26 November 2025 inserted a new §6¹ into the aprašas, in force from 1 January 2026. It provides that foreigners who sell goods and/or provide services in Lithuania need only the basic category (A1) for their first two years. The two years are counted from the day the foreigner is first issued a document confirming or granting the right to reside in the Republic of Lithuania. The same provision covers holders of a seasonal work permit.

When those two years end, §7 takes over — meaning A2. In practice, for the earliest arrivals in this group, the first-category requirement bites from 1 January 2028.

The same amendment also added an entirely new chapter V (§13–14), which puts the compliance duty on the business: natural and legal persons selling goods or providing services must ensure that staff who deal with customers directly hold the certificate, and self-employed sellers must hold it themselves. There are carve-outs: people who sell only temporarily, people not regularly engaged in selling, and cases under article 55 of the Law on Science and Studies.

It is this shift of responsibility onto the employer, rather than the level requirement itself, that is the real change. The A2 requirement for trade and service workers has been in force since 2021.

3. Permanent residence

For a permanent residence permit (the EU long-term resident status), the first category applies — stated in §5 of the aprašas approved by nutarimas Nr. 1687. The underlying obligation comes from the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens; the reference to article 53(6) appears in that resolution's preamble, but before relying on the article number, check the currently consolidated text, because the Act has been amended many times since 2003.

People on this route also sit the Constitution basics exam.

4. Citizenship

Naturalisation conditions are in Citizenship Act Nr. XI-1196: article 18(1), points 3 and 4 require passing the state language exam and the Constitution basics exam. Spouses are covered by article 19. Paragraph 12 of the aprašas confirms the reverse direction too: 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.

Note one trap: the text of nutarimas Nr. 1687 still cross-refers to articles of the repealed 2002 Act. The live numbering is that of the 2010 Act — articles 18 and 19.

What the exam looks like

The exam has three parts and 80 points in total. Reading and writing are one combined 90-minute electronic paper — there is no standalone grammar module and no separate reading module.

Part Mode Time Points
Reading and writing electronic 90 min (10:00–11:30) 50 (tasks 1–4 = A1 band, 22 pts; tasks 5–9 = A2 band, 28 pts)
Listening electronic, with headphones, straight after part 1 25 min (11:30–11:55) 20 (tasks 1–2 = A1, 10 pts; tasks 3–4 = A2, 10 pts)
Speaking face to face, audio-recorded, two examiners 12–14 min (from 13:00) 10 (3 situations at 0–3 pts each, plus 0–1 from the interviewing examiner)

The internal shape of the speaking part:

  • part 1 — 2–3 minutes of general questions about you, with no preparation time;
  • part 2 — a single task, 4–5 minutes, with 1 minute to prepare;
  • part 3 — two short tasks of 2 minutes each, each with 1 minute to prepare.

Speaking is conducted by two examiners: one interviews you, the other scores you separately. The conversation is audio-recorded.

Which topics can come up

The exam programme fixes 12 topic areas, and the exam does not go outside them:

personal identity · buildings and homes · nature and the region · daily life · leisure · travel · relations with people · health and hygiene · education and science · trade and shopping · food and drink · services.

The programme also carries a humane rule: the exam covers only those topics that should not cause candidates unpleasant emotions.

What this article will not tell you

Here honesty matters more than completeness.

  • There is no full published sample exam. Only one partial reading-and-writing sample is publicly available, and it is an older edition. No listening sample paper has been published at all, and the speaking task cards are not published either.
  • So we will never claim to know exactly what each listening task looks like, or what is printed on a speaking card. What is confirmed is the timing, the points and the marking rule — and those are the things that actually decide your result.
  • We also do not reproduce official exam materials. Our practice tasks are authored against the official task-type taxonomy; they are not copies.

You can practise here: 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. Before making decisions about work, residence or citizenship, confirm the conditions with the body that administers the exam and with the migration authority — the rules change, and the most recent major change took effect on 1 January 2026.

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