He said Lithuania should not rely on external migration to solve labor shortages or population decline. Nausėda also warned against what he described as the “short-sighted migration mistakes” of older European states that led to “closed migrant zones” and “radicalization.”

The intervention came as Lithuania’s foreign population reached 7.5% of the total population, or about 218,000 residents, in 2026. At the same time, 106,400 foreigners held temporary residence permits for work, figures that have pushed immigration from a labor market issue into a broader political question.

His proposals centered first on tighter controls for work permits issued to third-country nationals. Nausėda said businesses should not treat foreign labor as a reserve pool that can hold down wages, a line that pointed to growing pressure over pay, hiring standards and the state’s ability to monitor employers.

A second element focused on the Lithuanian diaspora. Rather than leaning further on inward migration, Nausėda called for more effort to encourage Lithuanians living abroad to return, with attention to diaspora education and support for young families resettling in the country.

He also backed mandatory additional security checks for citizens of “unfriendly” countries, mainly Russia and Belarus. The argument linked migration control to national security, with Nausėda saying the state needed safeguards against societal polarization and hybrid threats.

Lithuania has already tightened some requirements this year. Starting in 2026, all service sector workers must have at least A1-level Lithuanian proficiency, a threshold that adds a language test to basic employment eligibility in customer-facing jobs.

Employers also face heavier liability for “illegal or undeclared work” under amendments that took effect on May 22, 2026. Those changes increase the cost of failing to document foreign labor properly and add another layer to integration rules affecting third-country nationals, including workers from Central Asia, Belarus and Ukraine.

Lithuania’s tougher rhetoric also arrived as the country began participating in the EU Migration and Asylum Pact on June 12, 2026. Under that framework, Lithuania can “select” specific migrants under relocation quotas, with priority given to families.

That leaves Vilnius balancing two tracks at once: a national push for tighter entry and integration standards, and an EU mechanism that still requires participation in collective migration management. Nausėda’s address suggested he wants that balance tilted firmly toward domestic control.

Parallel moves in the United States gave his speech a wider cross-border context. On May 22, 2026, USCIS issued policy memorandum PM-602-0199, reclassifying Adjustment of Status as an “extraordinary form of relief” rather than a routine path for people already in the country on temporary visas.

In a statement dated the same day, USCIS Spokesman Zach Kahler said: “We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly. From now on, an alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances.”

The memo affects a large pool of applicants. More than 600,000 annual Green Card applicants who previously filed from inside the United States may now need to use consular processing in their home countries instead.

That change carries direct consequences for Lithuanians in the United States on temporary visas such as H-1B or L-1 who want permanent residency. Instead of adjusting status from within the U.S., some may have to return to Vilnius and apply through consular channels.

Another U.S. measure followed on June 10, 2026, when President Trump signed the Secure America Act. The law provides $70 billion to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection through the end of his term.

DHS said the money would “strengthen accountability and improve enforcement” for non-citizens, including asylum-seekers and people on temporary work visas. Read together, the U.S. steps and Lithuania’s new line point to a shared emphasis on control, screening and reduced flexibility in legal pathways.

In Lithuania, the immediate effect falls most heavily on third-country nationals already trying to work, settle and meet integration standards. A labor migrant who could once qualify on the strength of an employer offer alone now faces added language expectations, closer permit scrutiny and a tougher compliance regime for the employer.

The political message is broader than administration. Nausėda framed immigration as part of demographic strategy, arguing that long-term stability should rest on domestic policy and the return of citizens abroad, not on sustained inflows of foreign workers.

That approach is likely to resonate in a country where migration has long shaped public life from both directions, first through emigration and now through a rising foreign workforce. With the foreign population more than doubling since 2020, immigration has shifted from a marginal policy area to one discussed at the highest level of state politics.

Nausėda’s remarks also sharpened the role of the Seimas, which would have to translate the president’s stance into law or government-backed amendments. The speech did not stand alone as rhetoric; it set out a legislative direction on labor migration, security screening and diaspora policy.

Anyone tracking the changes can follow updates from the [President of the Republic of Lithuania](https://www.lrp.lt/en), the [Lithuanian Migration Department](https://www.migracija.lt), the [USCIS Newsroom](https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom) and the [DHS website](https://www.dhs.gov). Those institutions now sit at the center of an immigration debate that Nausėda pushed into a single line before parliament: Lithuania Must Remain Lithuanian.