If you live and work in Lithuania, a state language certificate shows your Lithuanian for jobs, permanent residence and citizenship. The National Agency for Education sets the exams and issues the certificates, and local base schools hold them. A certificate from a Lithuanian course doesn't count. You need to pass the state exam.
- Basic category
Customer service, first two years
Since January 1, 2026, foreigners who serve customers need at least this level. It's enough for their first two years.
- CEFR A1
- Category I
Jobs with customers
For example drivers, waiters and salespeople, and anyone who serves customers after their first two years.
- CEFR A2
- Category II
Education, health and public service
Jobs in education, culture, health care and social services, and many civil servants.
- CEFR B1
- Category III
Managers and specialists
Heads of public bodies and companies, teachers, and aviation and shipping specialists.
- CEFR B2
For the Basic and Category I certificates, there is one shared exam. Your result decides which certificate you get. People with temporary protection, such as Ukrainians who fled the war, don't have to meet this rule for customer service jobs.
Permanent residence and citizenship use a different pair of exams: the state language exam and an exam on the basics of Lithuania's Constitution. It's best to take the language exam first.
Every language exam has a reading and writing part and a listening part, which you do on a computer at the base school. The speaking part is a talk with an examiner, later the same day. Category III adds a language use part. Results come within 15 working days as pass or fail, and the base school hands you the certificate.
The computer parts start at 10:00, and speaking starts at 13:00, or 14:00 for Categories II and III.
- Basic–I exam in 2026€52
- State language exam€57
- Constitution exam€21
- Oct 22, 2026
- Exam · Basic–I (A1–A2)
- Nov 10, 2026Next exam
- Exam · Constitution exam
- Nov 11, 2026
- Exam · Basic–I (A1–A2)
- Exam · State language exam
- Nov 12, 2026
- Exam · Category II (B1)
- Nov 19, 2026
- Exam · Basic–I (A1–A2)
- Dec 8, 2026
- Exam · Constitution exam
For the Basic–I exam, registration opens 30 days before the exam and closes 7 days before it.
Dates checked Oct 24, 2026
You book the two exams for permanent residence and citizenship on the Migration Department's website, migracija.lt, and you pay when you book. The site shows the price before you pay. The Constitution exam starts at 14:00.
For a work certificate, register on the agency's exam site, eksternams.nsa.smm.lt, and pay within 24 hours of the confirmation email. You take the Basic–I exam at a base school in the municipality where you live. Categories II and III are held only in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Panevėžys, Šiauliai, Utena, Alytus and Marijampolė. Bring an ID and arrive 30 minutes early.
Reading and listening come up in two of the exam's three parts. Both get easier when you've read and heard plenty of Lithuanian you mostly understand. That kind of practice is called comprehensible input.
- Read About Your Own DayEach week, read and listen to short Lithuanian texts about shops, buses and work, with only a few new words in each.
- Answer Out LoudAfter each text, say two or three sentences about it in Lithuanian, the way you would to the examiner.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Lithuanian. You learn from Lithuanian you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Lithuanian lessons that match how much you can read right now. None of Bubblegum's six reading levels lines up with a category.
- Tell Bubblegum your goal is “Pass the State Language Exam”, and Poppy steers your Lithuanian lessons toward it.
- Ask for lessons about the situations your job puts you in, like serving a customer or giving directions.
- When a Lithuanian ending changes a word you thought you knew, Poppy can show you why.
- Regenerative Review™ weaves the words you saved into the next lessons Poppy writes.
- Practice the speaking part by talking with Poppy out loud in live voice chat.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- The lessons aren't laid out like the exam's tasks. Look at the agency's sample tests before exam day.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Saying Hello to Rūta
Labas, Rūta!
Hello!
Hello! How are things?
Good! Thanks!
Bye!
Which level do I need to keep working in a shop or café?
You need at least A1, the Basic category, for your first two years, counted from the day you first got a residence document. After that, you need A2, Category I. If your first document came before December 31, 2025, the two years count from January 1, 2026.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- National Agency for Education: 2026 exam schedule for the state language, the Constitution and the language categories (English, updated October 12, 2026)
- National Agency for Education: FAQ on the Lithuanian exam for foreigners (A1 rule from 2026, sign-up window, €52 fee, results, certificate)
- National Agency for Education: guidelines for the Basic and Category I–III exams (levels, where to take them, format)
- National Agency for Education: guidelines for the state language and Constitution exams for permanent residence and citizenship (fees, booking)
- National Agency for Education: results evaluation for the Basic–I (A1–A2) exam
- IOM Migration Information Centre Lithuania: exams and tests (which jobs need which category, sign-up, payment within 24 hours)
- Bubblegum
Checked on October 24, 2026 against each app's own pages.
