Approval of higher education law degrees obtained abroad is only required to participate in complementary courses on Luxembourg law and to access certain legal professions.

Applications must be sent to the Ministry of Higher Education and Research (Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche - MESR).

Who is concerned

Approval of law degrees is required to access complementary courses on Luxembourg law.

Prerequisites

The interested party must have obtained a final law diploma abroad which must grant a higher legal education degree recognized by the country of origin.

The final diploma must provide proof of the successful completion of a full-time legal study cycle of a minimum duration of:

• 4 years; or
  
• 8 semesters; or
  
• 12 trimesters.

Part-time study cycles are accepted provided that the total duration, the level and quality of these studies are not inferior to full-time studies.

The legal education programme must at least have included the following subjects:

• civil law;
• commercial law;
• criminal law or criminal procedure;
• private or public international law;
• constitutional or administrative law.

Note that civil law must have been taught at least for:

• 2 years; ou
  
• 4 semesters; or
  
• 6 trimesters.

Other subjects must have been taught for at least one year, 2 semesters or 3 trimesters.

The legal courses must have similar fundamental conceptions to those of the Luxembourg legal system.

Preliminary steps

Concerned parties must submit a copy of their secondary school graduation diploma together with their application for approval of the higher education law degree.

If the secondary school graduation diploma was obtained abroad (A-Level, Abitur, Baccalauréat, Bachillerato, Certificat d’enseignement secondaire supérieur, High School diploma, Maturità, Selectividad, etc.), the applicant must first request the recognition of equivalence of said diploma compared to the Luxembourg secondary school graduation diploma.

Costs

Applications for approval of higher education certificates are subject to the payment of a EUR 125 tax per diploma.

The tax must be paid by bank transfer to the bank account at the Banque et Caisse d’Épargne de l’État:
IBAN LU36 0019 5955 4436 2000
BIC/SWIFT BCEELULL
Communication: Taxe reconnaissance des diplômes, MENJE, Name of the applicant, Date of the application

A duplicate copy costs EUR 10.

How to proceed

Filing an application

In order to have their higher education certificate or diploma certified, concerned parties must submit an application:

• by post; or
  
• in person by filing it with the Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR).

Supporting documents

Applicants must attach the following documents to their file:

• a written application on paper requesting the approval;
• a curriculum vitae;
• a copy of the birth certificate or of an identity card (for citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland) / passport (for third country nationals);
• a copy of the secondary school graduation diploma, i.e.:
  • either a Luxembourg secondary or secondary technical school graduation diploma;
  • or a foreign secondary graduation diploma recognised as equivalent to the Luxembourg diploma;
• a copy of the higher education diploma to be approved;
• a copy of the intermediate academic diplomas obtained if the foreign country issues them;
• a copy of the official curriculum for each completed academic year;
• proof of payment of the EUR 125 tax per diploma.

The documents must be written either in one of the 3 official languages of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (French, Luxembourgish or German), or in English, or translated and certified in one of these languages by a sworn translator.

Who to contact