Work permit exemption for third-country nationals who are the spouse, partner or child of an EU citizen cross-border worker

Last update

Third-country nationals resident in another EU Member State or a country treated as such (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland) with their spouse or registered partner or one of their parents who already works in Luxembourg, may be exempt from a work permit to work in Luxembourg.

Who is concerned

Third-country nationals may be granted a work permit exemption, if:

  • they are legally resident in another EU Member State or a country treated as such (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland) with their spouse, registered partner or parent (or parents) who are citizens of an EU Member State or country treated as such; and
  • their spouse, registered partner or parent already works in Luxembourg.

Prerequisites

Preliminary steps

The employer must declare the vacant position to the National Employment Agency (Agence pour le développement de l'emploi - ADEM) before recruiting a third-country national, and be able to prove it.

How to proceed

Before commencing work in Luxembourg, third-country nationals must make a written application for a work permit exemption to the General Department of immigration of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The exemption application must indicate the applicant's identity details (surname(s), first name(s) and exact address in the country of residence) and must be accompanied by the following documents and information:

  • a copy of their valid passport, in its entirety;
  • a copy of an authorisation to stay issued by another EU Member State or country treated as such (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland);
  • where applicable, a copy of the employment contract compliant with Luxembourg labour law, dated and signed by both the applicant and their employer;
  • a recent certificate of affiliation to the Luxembourg Joint Social Security Centre for the spouse/registered partner or the parent which must include all the spouse/registered partner or parent's affiliations with Luxembourg social security;
  • recent proof of family relationship (e.g. marriage certificate, partnership certificate, family record book, birth certificate, etc.);
  • a recent household composition certificate and a recent certificate of residence from their country of residence;
  • Where necessary, a proxy.

Proxy: third-country nationals may mandate a third party (e.g. the future employer) to submit the application in their place. In this case, the proxy holder, with the exception of attorneys, must provide proof of their mandate in the form of a written power of attorney, duly dated and signed by the principal. The signature must be preceded by the handwritten note 'bon pour procuration' (good for proxy).

The documents enclosed must be originals or certified true copies (except for the passport where a plain copy will suffice). Should the authenticity of a document be in doubt, the Minister of Immigration can request that the document be authenticated by the appropriate local authority and legalised by the Embassy (or alternatively notarised with an apostille of the Hague).

If the documents are not drawn up in German, French or English, an official translation by a 'sworn translator' must be attached.

Only complete applications will be processed. Incomplete applications will be returned to the applicant.

The Ministry of Home Affairs normally responds within 3 months. If no response is received within this time, the application shall be deemed to have been rejected.

Online services and forms

Who to contact

Related procedures and links

Procedures

Links

Further information

Legal references

Your opinion matters to us

Tell us what you think of this page. You can leave us your feedback on how to improve this page. You will not receive a reply to your feedback. Please use the contact form for any specific questions you might have.

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.

Did you find what you were looking for?*
How would you rate this page?*
Very poor
Very good

Leave a comment to help us improve this page. Do not provide any personal information such as your email address, name, telephone number, etc.

0/1000

Please rate this page

Your opinion has been submitted successfully!

Thank you for your contribution. If you need help or have any questions, please use the contact form.

Would you like to help us make digital public services more user-friendly by submitting your suggestions for improvement?

Then visit Zesumme Vereinfachen, the online participation platform dedicated to administrative simplification in Luxembourg.

Let's simplify things together

An error occurred

Oops, an error has occurred.