We would like to inform that from 24 May 2021 the passport of opportunities will enter into force in Lithuania.
According to information provided by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, the passport of opportunities is needed in order to be able to open some of the businesses and activities that are closed or restricted without waiting for the epidemiological situation in the country to reach a particularly good situation.
Please be kindly noted the passport of opportunities at the moment will be valid only in Lithuania.
Who will be able to use the passport of opportunities?
The passport of opportunities is for people who:
· have been vaccinated against coronavirus,
· had COVID-19, or
· a negative COVID-19 test (PGR test or rapid antigen test). Because of the longer time to wait for PGR results, rapid antigen testing is more recommended.
It is expected that the people who received the vaccine will be able to us the passport of opportunities:
· one week after the second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines;
· 4 weeks after the injection of Johnson & Johnson vaccine;
· 4 weeks after the first dose of Vaxzevria, but no longer than 12 weeks.
For COVID-19-relapsed people wishing to obtain the passport, the diagnosis of coronavirus will need to be confirmed on the basis of a positive PGR test or antigen test. No more than 180 days must pass from this positive test result. If a person has been diagnosed with COVID-19 but has not consulted with a family doctor, and the fact of the illness is not recorded in medical history, such person will not be able to obtain the passport of opportunities.
In order to receive the passport, the COVID-19 test will be valid for 24 hours from the moment of sampling and will be available at municipal mobile points or other municipal test sites. The test there will be free of charge. Persons will also be able to take tests in private personal health care institutions at their own expense.
Children under the age of 16 do not need to be tested and have the passport of opportunities. They only need an identity document. The passport of opportunities will be issued to persons over 16 years of age.
The passport of opportunities will be available to all people who have a personal identification code issued in Lithuania and whose data (on vaccination, testing and relapse) are uploaded to the Lithuanian electronic health system.
What opportunities does the passport of opportunities provide?
With this passport, individuals will be able to visit restaurants, cafes, casinos and bars inside, with the exception of nightclubs.
With the passport of opportunities, a person will be able to participate in events with a capacity of up to 500 audience indoors and events with a capacity of up to 2.000 audience in open spaces. During indoor events, organizers will have to ensure that visitors are required to occupy no more than 75 percent of the seats. Persons will need to present the passport of opportunities before attending an event. The following restrictions apply to those who do not have the passport of opportunities regarding events: indoors – up to 150 people, in the open spaces – up to 300 people. Events involving people with the passport of opportunities together with those who do not have the passport of opportunities will not be possible to organize.
The passport of opportunities will allow a variety of leisure activities both outdoors (e.g. sailing on leisure boats) and indoors (e.g. playing billiards or bowling).
With the passport of opportunities, employees will also be able to return to work. In state and municipal institutions, establishments, state and municipal enterprises and in the private sector, it will be possible to perform work functions at the workplace when they are performed by persons having the passport of opportunities. With this passport, it is also possible to engage in non-formal adult education and trainings.
When personal celebrations are organized only among those with the passport of opportunities, a larger number of participants is possible (up to 10 people inside). Also, with the passport of opportunities, it is possible to celebrate personal celebrations, in which the number of participants is not limited, when those celebrations are organized by renting premises intended for the provision of accommodation or leisure services. It is the responsibility of the service providers to ensure that all guests have the passport of opportunities and can participate in the celebration.
The pools will have an unlimited number of visitors with the passport of opportunities. The area per visitor in sports clubs will not be limited when only those with the passport of opportunities visit them. Moreover, with the passport of opportunities, in accommodation establishments it will be possible to accommodate not only members of the same family in one room.
Where the passport of opportunities can be found?
The passport of opportunities is a QR code that will be given to people who have been vaccinated against coronavirus, had COVID-19 or a negative COVID-19 test result.
The passport of opportunities will be available at the page www.gpasas.lt (the system will start to operate from Monday). Individuals will need to verify their identity when logging in to this page through the e-government system and will need to update their status every 7 days (the passport of opportunities will be valid for 7 days, unless issued with a negative test – in such case it will be valid for 24 hours). The received QR code can be saved on a phone or printed out.
The passport of opportunities will be linked to the e-health system. It will only provide the data needed to identify a person. After scanning the received QR code, the person’s identity will be verified with an identity document.
Those who do not use electronic banking or do not have electronic access will be able to obtain a paper passport of opportunities in the territorial branches of the Center of Registers.
How the validity of the passport of opportunities will be checked?
The validity of the passport will be checked via page www.gpasas.lt by clicking the ‘check’ button. There is no need to have any special equipment to check the passport of opportunities – the QR code can be scanned by phone or touchpad. The checking party will scan the QR code provided by the person and see green or red light on the screen (green if the passport is valid and red, if not). If necessary, a person’s identity can be verified upon request for an identity document.
Does the business need additional preparation for the passport of opportunities?
No additional actions are required, the representatives of the areas where contact activities with the passport of opportunities will be allowed will be able to scan the QR code provided by the person using the mobile device’s web browser and see if contact activities are allowed, i.e. the passport of opportunities is valid or not. No additional registrations or logins are required.
Other changes in quarantine restrictions
From 24 May 2021 the working hours of restaurants, cafes and bars will be extended by one hour – up to 22 hours, five people will be able to sit at one table outside instead of two. Catering service is also allowed in hotels.
Only persons having the passport of opportunities or under the age of 16 will be allowed sit inside. Inside restaurants and cafes, no more than 10 people can sit at one table, except for members of one family and one household. Visitors sitting between different tables must be at least 2 meters apart, and if there are partitions, 1 meter is enough.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Leinonen Tax team and we would be happy to provide you with more information about the mentioned passport of opportunities and other changes which may be relevant to Your business.
The information above was prepared by the Leinonen tax team.
