Lithuanian universities have said unannounced inspections aimed at verifying the status of foreign students, especially non-EU students have interrupted classes and dormitory life, with Migration Department officers entering campus spaces without prior notice, requesting documents, and recording video during visits.
The checks, conducted in classrooms, administrative units, and dormitories, have included requests for identification documents.
According to LRT News, universities report that the visits were not coordinated in advance and sometimes carried out by individuals who did not immediately identify themselves. Institutions say they support lawful oversight but want inspections to follow agreed-upon procedures.
Reports of Unidentified Inspectors on Campus
Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) said its staff encountered two women with video cameras who entered the International Relations Department while asking for foreign students.
“They did not introduce themselves or show any identification. They were filming our employees,” KTU spokesperson Mantas Lapinskas said. He said staff directed the visitors to leave the premises.
Lapinskas explained that the university sees the situation as involving two separate concerns: the filming of staff in the workplace and the principle that visits by state institutions should be coordinated. “Any such visit must be coordinated with the university,” he said.
Other universities say they have experienced similar unannounced checks.
Classroom Activities Interrupted for Permit Verification
Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) in Vilnius reported that officers entered ongoing lectures to verify residency permits of non-EU students and recorded video inside teaching areas.
Audra Dargytė-Burokienė, head of the university’s International Office, said the checks took place during class time. “There are many types of students in these auditoriums,” she noted, saying lecturers and students were not informed in advance.
Universities say they are preparing instructions for staff on how to respond if inspectors arrive without warning. The guidelines are expected to require that lecturers request official identification and documentation of authority before allowing any checks.
Vytautas Magnus University Rector, Ineta Dabašinskienė, said institutions need advance notice. “We need to know in advance who is coming and what information they want. Teachers and students must feel safe,” she said.
She added that some members of the academic community did not understand the purpose of the checks at the time they occurred.
Klaipėda University Rector, Arūnas Razbadauskas, said that in other situations state institutions normally inform universities before conducting audits. “No one is trying to hide anything,” he said.
Migration Department Cites Compliance Concerns
The Migration Department has responded by saying some universities resist cooperation. Director Evelina Gudzinskaitė said officers have at times been told to leave campus buildings.
“There are cases where higher education institutions rudely refuse to open doors and tell us to leave. Then we must ask what they fear and what they are hiding from us,” she said.
Gudzinskaitė said the inspections are intended to determine whether non-EU students with temporary residence permits are actively participating in their studies rather than using enrolment as a route into the EU labour market. She said officers check both classes and dormitories and that attendance rules differ for foreign students, who must be present during scheduled instruction.
“We have identified cases where, according to the schedule, students should be present, but not a single student is found in the room,” she said.
Further Inspections Planned Across the Sector
The department plans to conduct at least one inspection in every Lithuanian higher education institution and later issue recommendations. Data from the department show that roughly 10,000 foreign students in Lithuania currently hold temporary residence permits.
