Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania: a Dublin transfer decision does not in itself deprive an asylum seeker of the right to work
2025 12 29
In its ruling of 29 December 2025 in administrative case No. eA-2817-442/2025 , the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania held that the Migration Department unlawfully refused to issue an asylum seeker with a foreigner’s registration certificate granting access to the labour market.
The Court clarified that a decision to transfer an asylum seeker to another EU Member State under the Dublin III Regulation is not a final decision on the asylum application and does not alter the person’s status as an asylum seeker. Consequently, such a decision does not stop the calculation of the time limit for access to the labour market under Article 15 of Directive 2013/33/EU.
Relying on the CJEU judgment of 14 January 2021 in joined cases C-322/19 and C-385/19, the Court ruled that national practice denying access to employment solely because a Dublin transfer decision has been adopted is incompatible with EU law. The obligation to grant access to the labour market ends only once the asylum seeker is actually transferred to the responsible Member State.
The Migration Department's decision was overturned as unlawful, and legal costs were awarded. The applicant is a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo whose family, including minor children, lives in the Republic of Lithuania. Due to restrictions on his right to work, the applicant was unable to ensure financial security for his family.
This case is one of the strategic cases of the Border Group, through which we seek to ensure the best interests of the child.