Article 89 Officially Extended to December 31, 2022 – Law Voted
LUXEMBOURG CITY, LUXEMBOURG – Today, July 14th, 2021, Luxembourg’s Chamber of Deputies voted on government bill 7844, an omnibus bill concerning extending the timeframe of various Covid-19 related measures. Among the various effects of the bill was included the extension of the final deadline of Article 89 of the Luxembourg Nationality Law of March 2017. The bill was passed unanimously. The new deadline for Article 89 will now become December 31, 2022.
In order for the bill to become law, the Council of State must approve the Chamber of Deputies’ request for an exemption from a second vote on the bill and then Grand Duke Henri must sign the bill into law. These two steps may be delayed due to the summer holidays, although it would normally take 2-3 weeks for both of these events to transpire. The official deadline will only be reflected as December 31, 2022 on government websites such as Guichet.lu once Grand Duke Henri signs the bill into law.
Background on Article 89
As a reminder, Article 89 or the two-step process to reclaim Luxembourg citizenship applies to individuals who had a direct lineage Luxembourgish ancestor alive on January 1, 1900 AND who made an initial application to Luxembourg before the first deadline of December 31, 2018. There are other paths to Luxembourgish citizenship which remain open for new applications today. These paths to citizenship have different criteria. Article 89’s first deadline (12/31/2018) will not be re-opened by this new law today.
Extension History
The Luxembourgish Government originally announced in March 2021 that they would extend the Article 89 deadline to December 31, 2022. Because the Government has an absolute majority in the Chamber of Deputies, the national broadcaster RTL and Luxembourgish Embassy in Washington DC announced in March that the deadline was in effect already extended to 12/31/2022. This vote makes that official.
Today’s vote is the second extension of the Article 89 deadline due to international travel restrictions caused by Covid-19. The original deadline for Article 89 was December 31, 2020. A first law was voted on by the Chamber of Deputies in June 2020 that extended the deadline to December 31, 2021. Because many applicants are still unable to travel to Luxembourg at this time, the Government elected to approve a second extension of the deadline.
More Information
For more information on traveling to Luxembourg in the time of Covid-19, please visit our page at www.luxcitizenship.com/coronavirus
Do you need help completing Phase II of the Article 89 Process? Visit our Services page.
Interested to find out if you can start a new application for Luxembourg dual citizenship? Take our eligibility test.