Hiring non-EU truck drivers in Lithuania: the employer checklist

Lithuanian haulage companies have been hiring drivers from outside the EU for years, and the route is well trodden. What still catches employers out is sequencing: the paperwork is not complicated, but each step depends on the one before it, and a missing item can add weeks to a start date. This checklist follows the order in which things actually happen.

Before you sign anything

Decide the role precisely. "Driver" is not enough for a permit application. You need the vehicle category (C+E for articulated trucks), the routes (domestic, Baltic, or international), the working pattern and the gross monthly pay. These details go into the employment contract and the mediation letter, and they cannot be changed casually later.

Check the pay level against the quota. Since 2025 Lithuania no longer runs a labour-market test for non-EU hires. Instead the ministry sets an annual quota for newly issued permits to non-highly-qualified workers. While the quota is open, a compliant contract at a market wage is enough. Once it is exhausted, new applications are approved only for jobs paying at least 1.2 times the national average gross wage. In 2025 the quota ran out in October, so the time of year you file matters. If you are planning a Q4 intake, budget for the higher threshold or file early.

Confirm the worker can be placed with you. A worker hired directly needs a temporary residence permit sponsored by your company. Your company must be registered, active and without unpaid tax or social-insurance debt, because the Migration Department checks this when it reviews the mediation letter.

Sourcing and assessment

Recruiting a driver you have never seen behind a wheel is the biggest risk in the whole process. The drivers we place in Lithuania are assessed in person at walk-in sessions in the source country — usually India, Nepal, Sri Lanka or the Philippines — and the assessment includes a supervised driving test on a comparable vehicle, a document check on the existing licence, and a basic language and safety interview. Ask any agency you work with to show you the driving-test video before you commit to a candidate, not after.

Allow two to six weeks for this stage. A smaller, better-vetted shortlist beats a long list of CVs.

The permit route

1. Mediation letter. Your company files the employer's mediation letter (tarpininkavimo raštas) through the Migration Department's MIGRIS system. It states the role, pay and the worker's identity.
2. Residence permit application. The worker applies through the Lithuanian consulate in their home country. The Migration Department decides within its statutory period; in practice this is six to ten weeks.
3. National (D) visa. If you need the driver on the road sooner, a national visa can be issued while the permit is being processed, provided the mediation letter has been approved. Many of our clients use this to bring the driver over and start induction.

End to end, from signed order to a driver on site, expect eight to fourteen weeks.

After arrival

A driver with a permit is still not a driver you can put on a route. Three things need to happen in the first weeks:

• Licence exchange. The foreign licence is exchanged for a Lithuanian one through Regitra; the procedure and any testing required depend on the country that issued the original licence.
• Driver CPC (Code 95). Professional drivers in the EU must hold the Certificate of Professional Competence. A newly arrived third-country driver will need to complete the training before driving commercially.
• Tachograph card. Applied for once the Lithuanian licence is issued.

We handle these alongside registration of the place of residence and a bank account, because a driver who is waiting on any one of them is a driver you are paying but cannot use.

What to ask a staffing partner

Before you commit, ask three questions: who conducts the driving assessment and can you see it; who files the mediation letter and monitors the quota; and who is responsible for the driver in the first ninety days if something goes wrong. If the answers are vague, the timeline will be too.

ManBe has placed more than 5,000 drivers in Lithuania from our Kaunas office. If you are planning an intake, tell us the headcount and start date and we will come back with a realistic timeline for the quarter you are hiring in.