2.3.2 Procedural issues Very few of the interviewed persons had gone through judicial procedures. Only one person had applied to court regarding his “unresolved” legal status, wanting to acquire Lithuanian citizenship. The case was rejected by the regional administrative court, but was ordered to be re-examined upon appeal. The person was representing himself in the administrative case, as he did not have the right to legal aid in the judicial proceedings. He did, however, receive legal counselling from the social worker at the prison. Two persons interviewed had gone through the judicial process with regard to their detention. Neither could tell the researcher if they had legal representation in the court proceedings. Although the interviewees reflected positively regarding the treatment they received from the authorities, several challenges in administrative procedures were identified during the interviews. Firstly, persons with “unresolved” legal status and migration officers reported that the process of obtaining a residence permit for such persons is complex and expensive. This is illustrated by the story of A.N. CASE STUDY119 A.N., male, 57 years old Country of birth: Lithuania A.N. is 57 and was born in Lithuania. Asked about his ethnic origin, he hesitates: “Well, my mother was Ukrainian and my father was Russian. I was born here. What am I?” Both of A.N.’s parents were dead and had come from different parts of Russia in 1946 or 1947 when they were still children to live and study at a specialized school in Vilnius. His paternal grandparents were from Lithuania, who had fled the country for St. Petersburg during the First World War. They later returned to Lithuania and settled in Vilnius. When he was a child, care rights were taken away from his parents. A.N. grew up in a children’s home. In 1988, A.N. was sentenced to a jail term in a prison in Lithuania. In line with the practice at the time, he was “registered out” of his declared place of residence, but was not “registered in” under the address of the prison. During the four years he spent in jail, he was not informed of a possibility or need to take any action regarding his citizenship status. When A.N. was released in 1992, he did not have a declared place of residence in Lithuania although he had never lived anywhere else. He went to the authorities on 4 September 1992, but was too late to “opt” for citizenship. As A.N. did not qualify as a permanent resident in Lithuania, he could not acquire citizenship under other provisions of the law. He says he did not receive much support from the authorities: “I told them, I went from a children’s home to a jail. What should I do? The lady at the passport desk gave me two options: pay her 100 USD or find somebody who would allow me to declare their home as my place of residence. At that time, none of the options were viable for me. This is how I became an immigrant.” He received a permanent residence permit upon presenting his birth certificate, school leaving certificate and other documents he had, which were proving his factual residence in Lithuania. Because he did not have a job, A.N. did not pay for social security. He was thus not entitled to receive State benefits or in fact register at the Labour Exchange Office until 1999. Once he joined the social security scheme, A.N. took up several jobs and was renting a room in his parents’ flat. Things were going rather well until his life was shaken. “When my mother died ten years ago, I suffered from a lot of stress. I started drinking really heavily and became homeless. It took me some time to get out of this dark place, and just when I managed, my father died. My brother had tricked my barely literate parents into leaving the flat to him. He immediately sold the flat and other property and moved to the UK with his family. He gave me 50 Litas and told me to sort out my papers.” 119 32 Interviewed on 6 September 2012. M A P P I N G S TAT E L E S S N E S S I N L I T H UA N I A