Requirements and regulations
A regulated profession is a type of professional activity or a group of types of professional activity, access to which, the pursuit of which or one of the modes of the pursuit of which is subject, directly or indirectly requires certain professional qualification by legal acts.
The database which contains information on regulated professions, statistics on migrating professionals, contact points and competent authorities, as provided by EU Member States, EEA countries, the UK and Switzerland.
- Recognition of regulated professional qualifications is a procedure, upon completion of which a state entitles to engage in a regulated profession or professional activity in its territory, considering holding of specific professional qualifications acquired in the other state.
- Professional qualification is a qualification approved by evidence of formal qualification (diploma, certificate, an attestation of competence) and/or professional experience.
- Professional experience is the actual and lawful full-time or equivalent part-time pursuit of the profession or professional activity concerned in a Member State. Professional experience is approved by a certain document issued by a competent authority.
IMPORTANT: The recognition of professional experience and professional qualifications is free of charge.
Contacts:
Ministry of Economy and Innovation
Sandra Kvaraviejienė
Email: Sandra.Kvaraciejiene@eimin.lt
Tel: +370 689 87 970
Rasa Balserienė
Email: Rasa.Balseriene@eimin.lt
Tel: +370 621 31 328
Important information:
There are 44 regulated professions in Lithuania, which correspond to the concept of regulated profession established in Directive 2005/36 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, which require a certain professional qualification:
If a person intends to work in Lithuania according to a regulated profession, the professional qualification of the person will be recognized in accordance with the General System of Recognition of Professional Qualifications.
Apart from the professions (doctors, general care nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists, architects, veterinary surgeon) whose training requirements are harmonized in the European Union.
According to the General system for the recognition of professional qualification, your training subjects will be compared with the requirements set in the Republic of Lithuania for respective professional training.
Lithuanian competent authority in every specific case having assessed the circumstances and discovered certain differences, substantially different matters:
- can request you to complete a professional adaptation period of a maximum of three years;
- aptitude test (compensation measure);
- in certain cases, the competent authority can apply both compensation measures.
| If you are coming from a Member State in which the appropriate profession is not regulated, while it is regulated in Lithuania | if you are coming from a Member State in which the appropriate profession is regulated, while it is not regulated in Lithuania |
| You have to prove that you have pursued the profession in question on a full-time basis for one year or for an equivalent overall duration on a part-time basis during the previous 10 years in-home Member State and have one or more an attestation of competence or evidence of formal qualification. | In such an event, your professional qualification recognition is not required. You can apply directly to an employer who will establish job requirements. |
Application and required documents can be submitted directly to a competent authority or through the Contact Centre of Services and Products. The application must be supported with Lithuanian translations of the documents. Translations must be certified by a translator’s signature and/or seal of a translation agency affixed.
Decision on recognition of your professional qualification is adopted within 3 months from the day of submission of all documents.
Doctor, general practice nurse, midwives, dentist, pharmacist, architect, veterinary surgeon professional qualification will be recognized by the principle of automatic recognition of professional qualification.
Minimum training requirements are set for the following 7 professions in the EU Member States: doctors, general practice nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists, architects, veterinary surgeons. Annex V of the Directive 2005/36/EC has only evidence of formal qualification that meets the minimum training requirements recoded.
If your diploma does not meet the minimum training requirements, a certificate of acquired rights certifying 3 years of employment in that profession during 5 years before the issue date of the certificate is required. Certificate of acquired rights is issued by a competent authority of a Member State, in which the diploma was issued to you and acquired your experience.
To have recognition of your professional qualification you are requested to apply to an appropriate competent authority, which will provide you with a form of an application for recognition of your professional qualification and a comprehensive list of documents required to be submitted.
Application and required documents can be submitted directly to a competent authority or through the Contact Centre of Services and Products. The application must be supported with Lithuanian translations of the documents. Translations must be certified by a translator’s signature and/or seal of a translation agency affixed.
Decision on recognition of your professional qualification is adopted within 3 months from the day of submission of all documents.
If you need to apply for the recognition of professional qualifications, this can be done using the European Professional Card (EPC).
The European Professional Card is an electronic document that certifies that a person has fulfilled all the conditions necessary to temporarily and occasionally provide services in the host Member State, or that their professional qualifications have been recognised for the purpose of establishment in the host Member State.
Professions for which the European Professional Card can be issued
Currently, the EPC procedure applies only to a limited number of professions. It is issued for five professions:
- General care nurses;
- Pharmacists;
- Physiotherapists;
- Mountain guides;
- Real estate agents.
To submit an application for an EPC, you must:
- create an “EU Login” account if you do not already have one,
- log in using your “EU Login” account (this is the European Commission’s authentication system), after which you will access the EPC interface,
- complete the EPC form by entering personal data and contact information,
- create an application,
- upload scanned electronic copies of the required documents (each supporting document should be scanned and uploaded as a separate file),
- submit all required documents to the competent authority in your country.
For more detailed information, please refer to the EPC user guide.
Main European Union and Republic of Lithuania legal acts regulating this area:
- Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications;
- Commission Implementing Regulation of 24 June 2015 on the procedures for issuing the European Professional Card and applying the alert mechanism pursuant to Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;
- Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Recognition of Regulated Professional Qualifications.
Issue of documents on professional experience and its length to persons going to other Member States pursuit of the regulated professional activity.
Legal basis
The Ministry of Economy and Innovation issues documents on professional experience and its length to their nationals leaving for work in Member States, when they pursuit of the regulated professional activity.
Application for a document on professional experience and its length:
in order to receive a document certifying your professional experience and its length, in accordance with Article 17 and Annex 2 of the Law No. X-2233 on amendment of the Law No. X-1478 on recognition of regulated professional qualifications of the Republic of Lithuania, which transposes Articles 17, 18, 19 and Annex IV of the Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, first of all, an application needs to be filled in for an issue of a document on professional experience and its length.
Required documents
The following documents must be enclosed to the application:
- personal identity document;
- document on state social insurance; This document can be obtained from a territorial unit of Sodra – it will issue you a certificate on your requested period (in the last 10 years) or a certificate can be ordered online and it will be automatically generated. The latter certificate is called ‘Information about state social insurance’.
- evidence of formal qualifications (diploma, other certificate, if any);
- employer’s issued certificate on the type of your professional activity and length or brief description of professional activity and length of a self-employed applicant;
- business certificate (for self-employed persons);
- certificate issued by the tax inspectorate on individual activity (if any);
- document certifying change of the surname (name) (if changed);
- power of attorney (if authorised person is filling in an application).
Application can be submitted:
- online: Sandra.Kvaraciejiene@eimin.lt
- by post or delivering it to the Ministry of Economy and Innovation: Ministry of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania, Šeimyniškių str. 19, LT-09236 Vilnius, Lithuania
Examination of applications
Matter regarding person’s application for a document on professional experience and its length is examined within 20 working days from the day of registration of the application in the Ministry of Economy and Innovation.
Applications are examined in accordance with the ‘Rules of examination of persons’ applications and their service in public administration institutions, enterprises and other public administration subjects’ approved by the Resolution No. 875 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 22 August 2007 ‘On approval of the rules of examination of persons’ applications and their service in public administration institutions, enterprises and other public administration subjects, approval of the form of an application, appeal or other document certifying the fact of acceptance of application’.
Consultations
Ministry of Economy and Innovation
Sandra Kvaraviejienė
Email: Sandra.Kvaraciejiene@eimin.lt
Tel: +370 689 87 970
Rasa Balserienė
Email: Rasa.Balseriene@eimin.lt
Tel: +370 621 31 328
If services are provided for the first time, when the regulated profession is related to public health or safety and is not automatically recognized according to Section II, III, IV of Chapter III of the Law No. Xii-2233 on Amendment of the Law No. X-1478 on recognition of regulated professional qualifications of the Republic of Lithuania, competent authority can verify service provider’s professional qualifications prior to starting providing services. Such prior verification is needed only when the purpose of it is to avoid potentially serious damage to the service recipient’s health or safety due to a lack of professional qualification of the service provider.
The scope of verification may not be wider than required for the achievement of the above-mentioned goal:
Study and training programmes in the Republic of Lithuania are entered in the State Register of Study and Training Programmes and Qualifications administered by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania.
Information on all the registered modular training programmes and modules is published on the website of Open Information, Consultation and Guidance System (AIKOS) of the Ministry of Education and Science.
Regulated education and training is any training which is specifically geared to the pursuit of a given profession and which comprises a course or courses complemented, where appropriate, by professional training, or probationary or professional practice.
The purpose of the vocational training programme is to provide professional and general competences provided for in the professional standard. The formal professional training programme consists of separate modules. Lithuanian I-V qualification level (corresponding to qualification levels of the European Qualifications Framework) modular training programmes can be developed on the basis of the modules according to the professional standard.
Accreditation of study programmes is the procedure at the time whereof a state-authorized institution, namely, the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education, acknowledges in the procedure prescribed by laws that a study programmes meets the set requirements.
The study programme is accredited if:
- all documents have been presented and the scope of the study programme in credits meets requirements set by legislation (if the programme is in full-time and part-time forms, the scope of the study programme, modules and individual subjects is equal for both forms);
- the awarded qualification is in line with the list of qualification degrees approved by Regarding the approval of the list of study fields and groups of fields according to which studies are conducted in higher education institutions, the procedure for its amendment, the structure of qualification degree programs and the principles for compiling the name of study programs.
- the study area, field and branch (if any) whereto the study programme has been attributed is in line with the list of study areas and fields according to which studies take place at higher education institutions approved by Regarding the approval of the list of study fields and groups of fields according to which studies are conducted in higher education institutions, the procedure for its amendment, the structure of qualification degree programs and the principles for compiling the name of study programs.
There is no training with special structure indicated in subparagraph ii of paragraph c of Article 11 of Directive 2005/36/EC 11 in the Republic of Lithuania.
Useful links:
In all European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries, as well as Switzerland, assistance centres operate where individuals seeking to work in a regulated profession in the member states can obtain information on the recognition of professional qualifications.
In Lithuania, the functions of the Assistance Centre for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications are carried out by the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation. The Assistance Centre was established in accordance with Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications.The activities of the Assistance Centre are regulated by the following legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania:
- Law on the Recognition of Regulated Professional Qualifications;
- Government Resolution No. 637 of 18 June 2008 ‘On the Implementation of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Recognition of Regulated Professional Qualifications
- Vyriausybės 2008 m. birželio 18 d. nutarimas Nr. 637 „Dėl Lietuvos Respublikos reglamentuojamų profesinių kvalifikacijų pripažinimo įstatymo įgyvendinimo
What support is provided:
- Assistance is provided on matters related to the recognition of professional qualifications to citizens and to assistance centres of other Member States: consultations are offered on professional qualification recognition procedures in Lithuania and other Member States, regulated professions, the issuance of the European Professional Card, and other related issues.
- Support is provided to citizens of Lithuania and other Member States in exercising the rights granted to them under the Law on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications and the Professional Qualifications Recognition Directive. Where necessary, cooperation is carried out with the assistance centre, competent authorities, and contact points of the home or host Member State.
Consultation contact details
IMPORTANT! The Lithuanian Assistance Centre provides consultations on the recognition of professional qualifications free of charge. Competent authorities of the Republic of Lithuania do not charge fees for the recognition of professional qualifications or for consultations.
The Assistance Centre provides consultations by telephone, by email, or in person at the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation. Consultations are provided in Lithuanian and English.
When an inquiry is submitted by email, a reply is provided as soon as possible, but no later than within 5 working days. If answering the questions raised in the inquiry requires information from institutions or training establishments in Lithuania and/or other Member States, the applicant is informed that the inquiry has been received and that a response will be provided once all necessary information has been obtained.
| Ministry of Economy and Innovation Šeimyniškių St. 19, LT-09236 Vilnius |
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| Sandra Kvaraviejienė Email: Sandra.Kvaraciejiene@eimin.lt Tel: +370 689 87 970 |
Rasa Balserienė Email: Rasa.Balseriene@eimin.lt Tel: +370 621 31 328 |
Would you like to leave feedback? You can do so on the European Commission’s website.
On 28 June 2018, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive (EU) 2018/958 on the proportionality test before adopting new regulation of professions (hereinafter – Proportionality Directive).
To implement the provisions of the Proportionality Directive, the following national legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania have been adopted:
- The Law of 28 May 2020 amending Articles 15 and 16 and repealing Article 161 of the Law on the Fundamentals of Law-Making of the Republic of Lithuania No. XI‑2220, No. XIII‑2986;
- The Law of 28 May 2020 amending Articles 9, 58 and 59, Annex 6, and supplementing the Law on the Recognition of Regulated Professional Qualifications of the Republic of Lithuania No. X‑1478 with Article 3¹, No. XIII‑2985;
- Resolution No. 637 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 18 June 2008 “On the Implementation of the Law on the Recognition of Regulated Professional Qualifications of the Republic of Lithuania” (hereinafter – Government Resolution No. 637).
Acting in accordance with the above‑mentioned legal acts, the drafter of a draft legal act, before establishing a new or amending an existing legal regulation whose provisions restrict the possibility to pursue or engage in a regulated profession (hereinafter – the Provisions), must carry out a proportionality assessment of the provisions of such draft legal acts. The Description of the Procedure for the Proportionality Assessment of Draft Legal Acts Containing Provisions Restricting the Pursuit of or Engagement in a Regulated Profession, approved by Government Resolution No. 637, sets out the proportionality assessment criteria on the basis of which the proportionality of the Provisions is evaluated.
Although the Government Resolution does not establish a specific form for the proportionality assessment of the Provisions, the drafter of a draft legal act may complete the following – Form for Conducting the Proportionality Assessment of Draft Legal Acts Containing Provisions Restricting the Pursuit of or Engagement in a Regulated Profession It provides the drafter of the draft legal act with guiding questions under each proportionality criterion, helping to properly assess the Provisions.
Practical aspects:
- Recommendations prepared by the European Commission on the proportionality assessment of legal provisions restricting the possibility to pursue or engage in a regulated profession.
- Practical aspects of assessing the proportionality of the provisions
Consultations on the assessment of the proportionality of requirements are provided by:
Ministry of Economy and Innovation
Sandra Kvaraviejienė
Email: Sandra.Kvaraciejiene@eimin.lt
Tel: +370 689 87 970
Rasa Balserienė
Email: Rasa.Balseriene@eimin.lt
Tel: +370 621 31 328
Persons who have obtained regulated professional qualifications in the United Kingdom (hereinafter – the UK):
| I am a Lithuanian national who obtained professional qualifications to be a doctor, nurse responsible for general care, midwife, dental practitioner, pharmacist, veterinary surgeon or architect in the UK, before Brexit, and I want to return to Lithuania and pursue one of these professions. What is the procedure for having my professional qualifications recognised? | If you obtained your professional qualifications (to be a doctor, nurse responsible for general care, midwife, dental practitioner, pharmacist, veterinary surgeon or architect) before Brexit or no later than within one year from the date of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the principle of automatic recognition will also apply to you after Brexit because you obtained your professional qualifications at the time when the UK was still an EU Member State, and the training requirements for those professions were harmonised between all the EU Member States. Further information is available on the website of Innovation Agency (under Regulated Professions) https://kc.inovacijuagentura.lt/kcis/kontaktinis-centras/regulated-professions/list-of-regulated-professions?lang=en. |
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| I am a Lithuanian national who obtained professional qualifications to be a doctor, nurse responsible for general care, midwife, dental practitioner, pharmacist, veterinary surgeon or architect in the UK, after Brexit, and I want to return to Lithuania and pursue one of these professions. What is the procedure for having my professional qualifications recognised? | As the UK became a third country after Brexit, the principle of automatic recognition will not apply in this case, as the UK is no longer subject to EU legislation, and the training requirements for the above-mentioned professions, valid in the UK, are no longer harmonised with those of the EU Member States. Hence, persons whose professional qualifications were obtained in the UK after Brexit and who are seeking employment in Lithuania will need to have their qualifications recognised in the same way as those of persons who obtained these professional qualifications in any other third country. The recognition of such professional qualifications is carried out by the competent authorities of Lithuania, in accordance with provisions of Article 61 of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on recognition of regulated professional qualifications. Information on the competent authorities and contact details for the relevant regulated professions can be found on the website of Innovation Agency (under Regulated Professions) https://kc.inovacijuagentura.lt/kcis/kontaktinis-centras/regulated-professions/list-of-regulated-professions?lang=en.
However, if you obtained your professional qualifications (to be a doctor, nurse responsible for general care, midwife, dental practitioner, pharmacist, veterinary surgeon or architect) after Brexit, but no later than one year after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the principle of automatic recognition will continue to apply to you after Brexit. |
| I am a Lithuanian national who obtained professional qualifications other than those listed above in the UK, and I want to return to and work in Lithuania. Do my professional qualifications obtained in the UK, with which I wish to pursue my career in Lithuania, require recognition? What is the procedure for having my professional qualifications recognised? | See the List of Regulated Professions to check if your profession is listed as a regulated profession in Lithuania.
If your profession is regulated in Lithuania, you must contact the competent Lithuanian authorities for recognition of your professional qualifications. Information on competent authorities and contact details can be found on the website of Innovation Agency: https://kc.inovacijuagentura.lt/kcis/kontaktinis-centras/regulated-professions/list-of-regulated-professions?lang=en If your profession is not regulated in Lithuania, recognition of your professional qualifications is not required. It is up to prospective employers to decide whether you can pursue the relevant professional activities. For persons who want to pursue a regulated profession in the UK, relevant information on the recognition of professional qualifications in the UK is available here. |
Comparable of professional experience to higher education qualification, gives the right to employment for highly-qualified foreigners with minimum 5 years’ professional experience, but without higher education diploma.
The Description sets forth the procedure of determining comparable professional experience to higher education qualification and issue of an appropriate certifying document. Document certifying recognition is issued upon the employer’s request only and is valid exclusively for a specific workplace specified by the employer.
Employer, when planning to employ a foreigner pursuing work requiring a higher professional qualification in a profession not regulated in Lithuania should know:
- This procedure applies only to non-regulated professions which do not require certain professional qualifications by law. The list of regulated professions can be found here.
- A profession in which a foreigner is planning to work is classified into the main groups 1, 2 or 3 of the Lithuanian classification of occupations. The Lithuanian classification of occupations can be found here. If a profession is not regulated, and a foreigner does not have a higher education diploma, but has a minimum of 5 years’ professional experience, a document certifying higher professional qualification needs to be obtained. Such a document is issued by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania. Then, the employer must submit an application, of the established form and the following documents to the Ministry of Economy and Innovation.
| If a foreigner acquired professional experience while working under an employment contract | If a foreigner acquired professional experience while working as self-employed: |
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| Documents must be translated into Lithuanian. The translation must be certified by the signature of the translator who performed the translation and/or by the stamp of the translation agency. | |
| A foreign national who has acquired professional experience through employment under an employment contract and through self-employment must submit all of the above-listed documents. | |
Submitting an application and other documents:
- In person at the Ministry of Economy and Innovation one-stop shop, Šeimyniškių St. 19, LT-09236 Vilnius.
If an application is submitted directly, the original documents must be enclosed and/or copies certified by an issuing competent authority of the Republic of Lithuania or a foreign country, notary or other person authorized to carry out notarial actions, or consular officer or another competent officer of a foreign country. When original documents are submitted, an employee of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation makes and certifies their copies, and returns the original documents to the applicant.
- Directly into a one-stop shop of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation: vienaslangelis@eimin.lt
If an application is sent by post, copies of the documents specified must be submitted, certified by an issuing competent authority of the Republic of Lithuania or a foreign country, notary or other person authorized to carry out notarial actions, or consular officer or another competent officer of a foreign country.
Consultations
Ministry of Economy and Innovation
Laura Galinytė
Email.: Laura.Galinyte@eimin.lt
Tel: +370 660 83 114
Terms:
- An employee of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation checks if the employer is established in Lithuania, not bankrupt if the application if properly filled in and all documents submitted within 10 working days;
- If any defects are discovered, the term of a minimum of 5 working days and a maximum one month is established for the elimination of defects.
- In case of failure to eliminate defects within the established term, documents are returned to the employer;
- When all properly issued documents are submitted, a decision must be made within one month from the day of receipt of the application and all documents.
- If an applicant submits more than 15 applications at the same time, the term verification of documents of 10 working days is extended to 15 working days, a term of decision-making – up to 45 working days.
Legal acts regulating this field:
- Council Directive 2009/50/EC of 25 May 2009 on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for highly qualified employment
- Law on the Legal Status of Aliens of the Republic of Lithuania;
- Resolution No. 211 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 22 March 2017 ‘On the approval of the description of the procedure for recognition comparable of professional experience to higher education qualification and the issue of a certifying document’.
This service is intended to contact the authorities and send them the documents needed to issue permits, issue licenses and receive replies from the authorities.
Requirements depend on your business activity and the authorities issuing the license or permit can be found at Descriptions of public and administrative services.
Important! Read user guide before you begin.
Construction products may be classified, according to the conditions for placing them on the market, into two groups: harmonised and non-harmonised construction products, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Each EU Member State is required to establish a Product Contact Point. Through information on national rules and remedies, the Contact Points help reduce the risk that a product is unlawfully denied access to a market of another EU Member State.
What are the missions of Product Contact Point?
Product Contact Point is responsible for providing at the request of an economic operator or authority of another Member State, national information relating to:
- information on the principle of mutual recognition and the application of Regulation 2019/515 on mutual recognition of goods.
- direct contact details of the competent authorities responsible for implementation of the national technical rules.
- the remedies and procedures available in the event of a dispute between the competent authority and business, including the problem-solving procedure provided by the SOLVIT service.
- transposition and implementation of EU harmonisation legislation applicable to products according to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products.
Consultation:
If you have additional questions regarding product rules and requirements, you are always welcome to contact our consultants by email – konsultacijos@inovacijuagentura.lt or fill the inquiry form. We will contact you within 15 business days from receiving your inquiry. Consultations are free of charge.
Manufacturers supplying products to the market must guarantee that they are safe. It must be guaranteed that products comply with the EU safety, health and environmental requirements. Manufacturer is held responsible for conformity assessment, preparation of technical documentation, preparation of conformity declaration and CE marking of products. Once all these actions are completed, only then a product can be placed on the EU market.
Intellectual property includes the rights related to: literary, artistic and scientific works, performing arts activities, phonographic recordings, radio and television shows, inventions in all fields of human activity, scientific discoveries, industrial design, trade marks and service marks, company names and other commercial designations, and other rights of a similar nature.
The principle of mutual recognition ensures that non-harmonized products lawfully marketed in one Member State should be allowed to be marketed in any other Member State, even when though the products do not fully comply with the technical rules of the Member State of destination. However, in accordance with the Regulation on Mutual Recognition, Member States can adopt administrative decisions based on justified and proportionate national technical rules to prohibit, modify, or withdraw a product from the market.
Mutual recognition is the principle of European Union (EU) law under which Member States must allow goods that are legally sold in another Member State to also be sold in their own territory. The principle of mutual recognition, which derives from the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, is one of the means of ensuring the free movement of goods within the internal market. Mutual recognition applies to products which are not subject to EU harmonisation legislation, or to aspects of products falling outside the scope of such legislation.