Why are we mocked from us?

No longer have the right to drive

It turns out that hundreds of expats have faced the fact that they will have to waste time and spend a lot of money.

Because there is no other way out but to go to your home country and carry out a health check here.

Only then does their driver’s license extend or the ability to acquire a driver’s license issued by the country where expatriates live.

Jolanta Kokkalis, who has been living and working in Germany for years, has faced this situation, which many know the previous name of Norkienė.

She recently learned that she no longer had the right to drive. Although the validity date stated on the document shows that it is still available until July, the driver’s license is no longer valid this spring.

As he began to clarify, Mr Kokkalis learned that his health certificate had completed the validity of his health last June last year.

« For many years, no one needed this document and no one knew it for a while. When I found out that I had to check my health, it was spring, » said a woman living in Germany. « I visited a German office where driving licenses were issued to foreigners. The euro and 50 cents were only to be approved by the Lithuanian side of the Lithuanian website and showed that I no longer had the right to drive.

Echoes: J. Kokkalis, who has been in an enviable situation, received many requests to share the message of what she will do in this situation because many expats do not know how to behave. Photo by Personal Archive

Forcing you to end your connection with your homeland?

The woman started wondering what she should do to drive again. After sending a letter to Regitra, she received advice.

The paradoxical thing has become clear – that her driver’s license will automatically become valid, and she has to undergo a medical examination in Lithuania.

Eglė Bačionytė, a spokeswoman for Regitra, said that drivers who have provided their contacts receive reports that their medical certificate will soon expire.

Customers are informed twice: 60 and 20 days before the medical certificate expiry.

The messages are also sent after suspension of the driver’s license.

In the near future, Mr Kokkalis is unable to travel to Lithuania, recently started working in a new job and does not yet have a vacation. Work – very intense, a few free days for a woman will not give new employers.

For me, it is an incomprehensible bureaucracy.

If J. Kokkalis will not perform formalities by July, when her driver’s license expires, will have to ask for German, which will be expensive and there will be more hassle.

The woman estimates that in order to return to Lithuania now, the journey alone would cost at least 300 euros.

Lithuania cannot find an answer as to why people living in EU countries cannot solve the problem without traveling thousands of kilometers.

Received the ridicule of medical professionals

After contacting Lithuanians of a similar fate living in Germany, Mr Kokkalis heard many testimonies that such a problem was not only about it but also thousands of compatriots.

32 thousand. Comments of the account with social network users. After Mr Kokkalis, hundreds of reviews spoke about her problem about her problem.

Some people said in Germany when visiting the same specialization doctors as they need to visit Lithuania to obtain a driver’s health certificate.

It turned out that the German physician certificates were not valid with us. Be sure to go to Lithuania.

Others shared the frustrating experience of a visit to Lithuanian medical institutions.

One man said that his home country’s doctors were mocking him. The man heard a ridiculous questions about what he wants if he lives in Germany, why he was pushing a German Compulsory Health Insurance Card, why he was obstructed, did not understand why he had to check their health for people living in Germany. Even heard the replica, « Live in your Germany. »

Response – still the same

« I have a German Patient Fund Card, I have no Lithuanian. Because I can’t have dual citizenship, living in Germany and being equal to the locals, I was forced to give up a Lithuanian. In Lithuania I can no longer get a driving license. The driving license is still in place.

The woman sent letters to Regitra, called this company and received answers from different employees every time.

The Lithuania realized that no one was going into her situation, just quoting the law.

By sending an email, she also sent a copy of her driver’s license, a card testifying that she had passed driving tests, a copy of her German passport and ID card in 1998.

The response was still the same – the health certificate is not valid.

After receiving a link sent by Regitra employees, he sent a screen photo confirming the document. Because J. Kokkalis can connect to the Lithuanian system through the electronic government gate because he has real estate in Lithuania and a bank account operating there.

Nevertheless, received a response that her request was not received. How this system works is unclear.

There are no exceptions

Emotions: The name of Regitra has recently not given expatriates the brightest associations. Photo by I. Jurkuvienė

Recently, the topic « Regitra », described by customers living abroad, receives several tens a week.

Regitros spokeswoman E. Bačionytė repeated the same thing as Mr Kokkalis mentioned and what all the driving of Lithuania knows – since the beginning of this year, a new procedure came into force, according to which the medical certificate is linked to the driving license.

According to her, at the end of 2023, there were more than 442 thousand drivers who need to carry out health checks by the beginning of this year, and with the entry into force of the new order, there were less than 70 thousand.

« The general rule is that if the driving license is issued in Lithuania, there must be a permanent medical certificate. If the driving license is issued abroad, the requirement to have a valid medical certificate is applied in accordance with the laws of that state.

A spokeswoman for Regitros replied to Mr Kokalis Kokkalis: « If you have a driving license issued in Lithuania, you should apply to a personal health care facility for a driver’s health care.

It is relevant to many people

After the discussion of the discussion on the German Lithuanian Social Network account, Mr Kokkalis received many requests to share knowledge, because for many it would be a tip to behave themselves.

« For me, this is an incomprehensible bureaucracy. If the law has changed since January 1 and many people have lost their right to drive, some exceptions should be discussed, especially for those who are no longer Lithuanian citizens or living outside Lithuania. To quit and drive to Lithuania?