Living without an asmens kоdas: what can replace a missing personal code in Lithuania while awaiting asylum? How can you communicate with state institutions and get necessary information? And what about opening a bank account and getting a payment card in Lithuania as an asylum seeker?
While waiting for a decision on their asylum application, foreigners do not yet have a personal code (asmens kodas), which is usually issued together with a residence permit. Unfortunately, most services in Lithuania rely on this code. Without it, foreigners face limited access to many essential functions. Healthcare, taxes, self-employment, employment — these and many other areas are tied to electronic services. To access them in some way, alternatives must be found.
What is an asmens kodas in simple terms?
An asmens kodas is a unique eleven-digit personal identification number used to identify individuals and ensure compatibility between various registries and state information systems.
How to easily remember your personal code? The first digit represents the person’s gender and century of birth. The second and third digits — the last two digits of the year of birth. The fourth and fifth — the month of birth. The sixth and seventh — the day of birth.
What to do if you don’t have an asmens kodas in Lithuania?
During two years of living as an asylum seeker, it was constantly necessary to find alternative ways to handle everyday issues. Along the way, various codes were collected and used in place of the asmens kodas, depending on the situation. The list below may not be complete, as it reflects only specific social needs based on personal experience.
- ILTU – a code issued after submitting an asylum application
- DIK – health insurance code (Read more about how to get this insurance number here and check the insurance status on the official platform)
- Prototype of asmens kodas at a polyclinic – used for making medical appointments
- ESI – for receiving referrals to other healthcare institutions and for prescription medicines at pharmacies
- Social security number – used with Sodra when starting employment
- KID – used when calling Sodra
- Payer’s code – used to pay taxes to Sodra for self-employment (this was mentioned in the second episode)
- Taxpayer code and PIN – for accessing services on the VMI (State Tax Inspectorate) website.
Depending on your situation, you might come across other codes. For example, if you enroll your child in school before they receive a residence permit and asmens kodas, a temporary personal code is generated in the Student Registry.
You’re welcome to share your own discoveries about living without an asmens kodas in Lithuania in the comments.
Now that we’ve explored the different codes used for various purposes, let’s move on to the topic of writing official requests and inquiries.
Sooner or later, everyone faces situations where they need to contact government institutions to request information or access a service. However, not all inquiries receive responses. This often happens because the requests are submitted incorrectly. As a result, valuable time — and sometimes even resources — can be lost.
How to ask a question properly in Lithuania?
There are several ways to request information:
- by phone
- in person
- by email (unsigned letter)
- by a signed letter (sent by post or email)
Each method has its pros and cons. Some offer faster response times but less accuracy, while others — such as signed letters — may take longer to receive a reply, but the answer is considered official and can even be appealed in court. It’s often necessary to balance between speed and reliability of the information, as the human factor plays a significant role.
How to write an official request in Lithuania (sample format)
Where to find the right contacts?
Government websites almost always have a “Asmenų aptarnavimas” (Customer Service) section under their structure and contacts pages. This is where all the procedures and communication methods are listed.
In what language?
It is best to write your inquiry in the official state language — Lithuanian — or in two languages: Lithuanian and your native language. This way, if there’s a translation mistake, staff members who speak your language may still understand your intent. You can write in two columns (like in bilingual contracts) or section by section.
What should be included?
- From whom: full name, personal identification number (or substitute), address, phone number, email
- To whom: name of the institution and specific person (if applicable)
- Date and city
- Main content: the body of your request
- List of attached documents, if any
- Signature: qualified electronic signature if sent by email
You can download the sample request template we provide here: in docx format and in pdf format. If you don’t have a program to open these files, click here (it will open in your browser).
How to obtain an electronic signature in Lithuania without documents or an asmens kodas
Without a residence permit, asylum seekers cannot access a qualified electronic signature. However, there are alternative third-party services available for signing documents. Based on personal experience, we recommend DocuSign. [When registering, a free version is sufficient and no bank card is required.] This is not an advertisement, but documents signed via DocuSign have often been accepted as equivalent to those signed with a qualified electronic signature.
One of the advantages is that the document receives an Envelope ID, and the file becomes unalterable. Metadata also indicates that the document has been signed.
More information on how to use the service can be found here.
And the last topic for today is opening a bank account and card for an asylum seeker. In the modern world, it’s impossible to get by without an account, because most services are tied specifically to cashless payments. You can look for alternatives, for example, paying for utilities not through a bank, but via Perlas or Maxima, or placing orders with cash on delivery, but this is far from always possible. And in the case of asylum seekers, a number of problems arise that prevent or complicate the opening of accounts.
The main problems along this path are:
- the foreigner registration certificate (hereinafter — URP) is not a document that allows you to open bank accounts (it is not equivalent to a D visa or a residence permit)
- the state itself also does not provide payment cards and accounts, as is the case in some countries
However, there is an alternative to banks for asylum seekers — the electronic money institution Paysera.
How to open a bank account without a residence permit in Lithuania?
- Without a passport, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to open an account or get a card. Asylum seekers often either don’t have a passport because they arrived without one, or it has expired, or it is kept at Migration. Previously, it was possible to borrow the passport for 5 working days, but since 2024, the department has started a practice of not returning the passport under any pretext. You can try with a certified copy, but there are no known successful cases yet — the process gets delayed for a long time due to security checks. If you have had a different experience, please share it in the comments.
- About the account. If you have a passport and an asylum seeker card (URP), you can open an account regardless of the color of the URP (whether you have the right to work or not).
- About the card. With a URP with a red stripe, it is unlikely that you will be able to get a card, since cards are not issued by Paysera itself. With a green stripe, you should try — chances are 50/50.
- There is no clear answer. Different employees have had different experiences with opening a card using a URP with a green stripe.
- Verifying the information. You can always check the latest information by writing directly to Paysera.
If you would like to be a guest on the Easier Said podcast as a guest or have a question, we invite you to anonymously fill out a feedback form: https://forms.office.com/r/R6zVM97JfP
If you would like to participate in the recording, it is possible for those who are in Vilnius, because we record the podcast here. If you are not from Vilnius but want to share your story, we can tell it in the podcast instead of you. In this case, select “Have a question/suggestion or want to share information” in the second question of the form and tell your story in as much detail as possible, so that it helps other refugees or asylum seekers who have faced a similar problem and have not yet solved it.
If you want to contact us but are afraid to use comments, you can send us an e-mail. After that it will be enough to delete your letter from the “Sent” folder.
Our e-mail address is: help@belarus.fm
