When a permit application is refused — what happens next

Refusals are uncommon on a well-prepared file, but they happen, and the first hour after one arrives is usually spent on the wrong things. Here is what a refusal actually means, what causes them, and how to decide between appealing, refiling and moving on.

First, read the decision

A refusal states its grounds. That sounds obvious, but the instinct is to phone the agency and ask what went wrong before anyone has read the document properly. The grounds determine everything that follows: some are fixable in days, some make this particular application hopeless while leaving another route open, and a few are about the employer rather than the worker.

Note the appeal deadline. It will be short.

The usual grounds

The quota is exhausted and the salary is below the threshold. Not a defect in your file — a calendar problem. Once Lithuania's annual quota for non-highly-qualified workers is used up, new permits are approved only at 1.2 times the national average gross wage. The options are to raise the offer to clear the threshold, to check whether the role qualifies for the high-value-added list at the lower threshold, or to wait for the new year's quota.

Documents inconsistent or incomplete. Name spellings that differ between passport, contract and mediation letter; a missing attestation; a qualification document that cannot be verified. Almost always fixable, usually by refiling rather than appealing.

The job description does not support the application. A role described in terms that do not match the salary, the qualification or the licence held. Fixable, but it means correcting the mediation letter and starting that part again.

Employer standing. Outstanding tax or social insurance liabilities, or a company that cannot be shown to be genuinely operating. This one is about you, not the worker, and no amount of resubmission helps until it is resolved.

Concerns about the individual. Immigration history, previous overstays, or a document integrity issue. This is the one case where the answer is often that this candidate cannot travel and another should be found.

Appeal or refile?

Appeal when the decision appears to have got the facts or the law wrong and you can show it — the quota position was misapplied, or a document that was submitted was treated as missing. Appeals follow the procedure and deadline stated in the decision, and they take time.

Refile when the refusal is about something you can simply fix. A corrected file lodged cleanly is usually faster than arguing about the first one, and it does not carry the risk of an appeal that fails and leaves you further behind.

Move on when the ground goes to the individual's eligibility rather than the paperwork.

Protecting the intake

Two habits limit the damage. First, do not build a plan in which one refusal breaks the whole intake — where you need ten people, run more than ten files. Second, keep the assessed shortlist warm. A candidate who was tested and not selected can often be substituted quickly, because the assessment work is already done.

What it costs

Ask your agency, before you engage them, what happens to the recruitment fee if a permit is refused and the worker never arrives. The answer should be clear and in the contract. State fees are generally not recoverable — they are paid for the decision, not the outcome.

What we do

We tell you the ground, in plain language, the day it arrives. We say whether we think it is fixable and how long the fix takes. Where the ground is one of ours, we carry it. Where it is the calendar, we say so rather than dressing it up as a technicality.

If you have had a refusal and are not sure what it means, send us the decision and we will read it with you.