Lithuanian A2 exam
for permanent residence

For a permanent residence permit in Lithuania (leidimas nuolat gyventi), most grounds require two exams: the state Lithuanian language exam and the exam on the basics of the Constitution. This comes from Article 53 of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens. Some groups are exempt; the exact list is in Article 53 of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens.

This guide covers the language exam: what it consists of, how it is scored, when to take it in 2026 and how to prepare. All facts come from documents of NŠA (Nacionalinė švietimo agentūra, the National Education Agency); links are at the end of each section.

Which exam and which level

Officially it is the valstybinės kalbos egzaminas, the state Lithuanian language exam. The exam programme says it essentially corresponds to the Category I language proficiency exam and to A2-level tests. That is why people search for it as the "Lithuanian A2 exam".

The same exam is taken for Lithuanian citizenship: the NŠA schedule has one footnote covering both cases. NŠA runs the exam, and municipal base schools host it.

Do not confuse it with the language proficiency category exam (Bazinė–I kategorija, A1–A2). That one is taken for work, you register at eksternams.nsa.smm.lt, and in 2026 it costs €52. For permanent residence you need the exam you register for through MIGRIS.

Dates in 2026

According to the NŠA schedule, the language exam runs six times in 2026: 16 January, 24 March, 4 June, 20 August, 7 October and 11 November. On exam day the written part starts at 10:00 and the oral part at 13:00.

The Constitution exam in 2026: 13 February, 30 April, 9 July, 24 September, 10 November and 8 December, starting at 14:00. NŠA updates the schedule during the year, so check the current version before you register.

How the exam works

Written part: on a computer

The written part is electronic and takes place at the base school. Reading and writing last 1 hour 30 minutes (10:00 to 11:30), followed directly by listening, 25 minutes.

Oral part: 12–14 minutes

The oral part (kalbėjimas) has three tasks:

1. Questions about yourself, 2–3 minutes, no preparation. The examiner asks general personal questions: your name, where you are from, family, work, home, free time.
2. Second task, 4–5 minutes, including one minute of preparation.
3. Third task in two parts: 2 minutes each, with one minute of preparation before each.

There are two examiners in the room: one talks to you and sits opposite, the other assesses and sits further away. Tasks are handed out on a sheet, and the conversation is recorded. You may only bring a pen. Timing is strict: if you run out of time, the examiner moves on to the next task.

NŠA does not publish what exactly is on the sheet for the second and third tasks. The topics set by the exam programme are known; they are in a separate guide: oral part: topics and sample questions.

How many points you need

NŠA published its scoring rules of 27 February 2026 for the Bazinė–I category exam. That the permanent residence exam is scored the same way follows from a note in the same document; it is not officially stated for the residence exam. Under these rules, the assessing examiner gives 0 to 3 points for each of the three speaking situations, and the interviewing examiner adds 0 or 1 for the conversation as a whole. The maximum is 10. A2 requires at least 6 points, and judging by the NŠA examples, your two best situations together must give at least 5, that is 3 and 2. The wording in the document itself is contradictory, so aim above the threshold.

For the written parts: in reading and writing you need at least 17 of the 28 points for A2-level tasks, with A1 already reached; in listening at least 6 of 10 for A2 tasks. The final result is "A2" only if A2 is reached in all three parts: reading and writing, listening and speaking.

Results come within 15 working days at the latest. You find out by phoning the base school where you sat the exam.

Registration and fee

For the permanent residence exam you register in your MIGRIS account at migracija.lt and pay there with the „Atlikti mokėjimą“ button. The language exam costs €57, the Constitution exam €21. If you do not pay, you are not added to the list of candidates. You sit the exam at a base school in the municipality where you live. Step by step: how to register through MIGRIS.

Which exam first? The NŠA leaflet of 30 March 2026 recommends passing the language exam first, and Government Resolution No. 1687 requires the language exam to come first. The safe order is language first.

How to prepare for each part

Reading, writing and listening

The NŠA page "Testų pavyzdžiai" has a sample of the reading and writing part. Do it under time pressure to get used to the task format. For listening, practise with short everyday texts: announcements and dialogues in a shop or at the post office.

Questions about yourself

This is the most predictable part. Prepare 10–12 short answers about yourself and say them out loud many times, until they come without pauses. For example:

• Mano vardas Ana. Aš esu iš Indijos. My name is Ana. I am from India.
• Lietuvoje gyvenu jau trejus metus. I have lived in Lithuania for three years.
• Dirbu sandėlyje. I work in a warehouse.
• Turiu vyrą ir dukrą. I have a husband and a daughter.
• Laisvalaikiu mėgstu vaikščioti po miestą. In my free time I like walking around the city.

Answer with two or three sentences, not one word: where you work, what you do there, whether you like it.

Second and third tasks

Since the exact format is not public, practise what the programme requires: talking about a topic and handling an everyday situation. Pick a topic from the programme (housing, work, shopping, health, transport), set a one-minute preparation timer and speak for 2–4 minutes. For situations, act out short dialogues: booking a doctor's appointment, arranging a meeting, asking for directions, returning a purchase.

The programme specifically lists keeping a conversation going and asking for clarification. Learn phrases for when you do not understand a question:

• Atsiprašau, ar galite pakartoti? Sorry, could you repeat that?
• Ar galite kalbėti lėčiau? Could you speak more slowly?
• Nesupratau. Ką reiškia šis žodis? I did not understand. What does this word mean?

Speak out loud every day

The oral part is timed, and pauses are what let most people down. Twenty minutes of speaking out loud every day does more than an hour of grammar once a week. Record yourself on your phone and listen back: you will hear where you stop and which endings you mix up.

Mock exam

Talkfirst has a mock oral A2 exam: three timed parts, answers spoken out loud to an AI examiner and a score from 0 to 10 with feedback. Its second and third tasks are written from the programme topics, because there are no official samples, and pronunciation is not part of the score. For the second exam there is a mock Constitution test with 20 questions that you can take right on the page without signing up. Everything about Lithuanian in Talkfirst: Lithuanian from zero and for the exam.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: NŠA leaflet for permanent residence and citizenship (30 March 2026), NŠA schedule for 2026, NŠA FAQ, the exam programme, NŠA administration instructions and scoring rules of 27 February 2026. Checked on 3 October 2026.