CASE STUDY120 J.S., male, 49 years old Country of birth: Lithuania J.S. was born in Lithuania and has lived there all his life. In 1988, he temporarily moved to Russia where he committed a crime and in 1989, he was sentenced to five years in prison. When he returned to Lithuania in 1995, he approached the authorities expressing his will to acquire Lithuanian citizenship. He described their response: “They told me I should go back to Russia, the authorities said they would deport me and that I had no right to citizenship. They didn’t even give me a residence permit. I never went back to Russia.” J.S. was working unofficially for many years. He maintained a low profile and avoided any contact with the authorities. In 2010, he was sentenced to another prison term. He was hired by the public company which operates in the prison, but was fired when, upon an attempt to register him with the social security, the prison facility was told J.S. did not have the right to work. The social worker then took up his case and began trying to get J.S. documented. J.S.’s father was born in Lithuania prior to its incorporation into the Soviet Union. However, proving that he was a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania and that he is a person “of Lithuanian origin” was difficult because his family roots lie in the Vilnius region, where questions of citizenship were complicated. The region was annexed by Poland from 1920 to 1939. The archive search and cross-referencing by J.S. and the social worker, as well as by the Lithuanian authorities, took almost two years. In August 2012, J.S. was recognized as a person “of Lithuanian origin” who has an indefinite right to restore Lithuanian citizenship. He could now choose between obtaining Lithuanian citizenship, which would cost him 142 Litas, or a permanent residence permit, which would cost him 150 Litas. J.S. will choose acquiring citizenship. He says becoming documented is important to him: “ Of course it is important, especially because now I will be able to work. I will have rights, not like before.” J.S. says he would not have been able to solve his situation if not for the help of the social workers at the prison facility. One interviewee, who is a national of the Russian Federation born in Latvia, moved to Lithuania with his daughter, a Latvian “non-citizen”, when she was a baby. While he himself eventually obtained a permanent residence permit without any problems, his daughter was only issued a temporary residence permit, which has to be renewed each year. According to the father, the local migration agency claims that his daughter has a right to the citizenship of the Russian Federation and can only obtain a permanent residence permit upon providing a passport of the Russian Federation. It must be noted that this case is not in line with the provisions outlined in the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens which provides a right to a permanent residence permit for children who were not born in Lithuania if one of their parents is a permanent resident.121 The case illustrates the practical problems stateless persons may face in administrative procedures. Two stateless Roma persons who were interviewed for this research reported major obstacles in proving their Lithuanian descent, because their parents or grandparents had not been registered as citizens or residents of the Republic of Lithuania prior to 15 June 1940122. Some only have their parents’ or grandparents’ birth 34 120 Interviewed on 12 September 2012. 121 Law on the Legal Status of Aliens, Article 53(1) (6). 122 G.K. and A.M., interviewed on 29 August 2012. Pursuant to Art. 1 (2) of the Citizenship Law in force until 01 April 2011, where a person could prove being a resident of Lithuania before the annexation by the Soviet Union in 1940, or having parents or grandparents who where residents at that time, the person could claim citizenship. 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