Information on nationality in passport from 2015

Upon a motion of the Ministry of the Interior the government resolved to adopt an amendment to the Passport Law under which the citizens are entitled to submit a written request for including the information on their nationality in the passport.

Taking practical circumstances into consideration, that is the fact the adoption of amendment needs to be followed by introducing new passport application form, printing new passports as well as making appropriate changes to the software for identity documents issuance system, the government announces that the amendments would come into effect on July 1^st, 2015.

Nevertheless, the government rejected a proposal to include the information on nationality on ID cards, since it is impossible for technical reasons.

The proposal was submitted by the Labor Party MP, Mečislovas Zasčiurinskas. “The project aims to enable the citizens to exercise their right to include the information on nationality in identity document. It will be done on request of the people interested. In this way the citizens will be able to declare their nationality” – the deputy explains.

The information on nationality of Lithuanian citizens was included on ID cards until 1999. In October of 1999 the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania resolved that the nationality is a private matter of every Lithuanian citizen.

Source: http://zw.lt/litwa/wpis-narodowosci-w-paszporcie-od-2015-roku/

Tłumaczenie by Martyna Kołtun w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Martyna Kołtun within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.