LuxCitizenship

Policies Affecting Luxembourg Dual Citizens 

Over the years, LuxCitizenship has helped 1,150 clients on the path to Luxembourg dual citizenship. We’ve also gotten to meet countless other dual citizens. In doing so, we’ve learned of some policies and laws which can impact dual citizens through ancestry.

Coming Together To Improve

We’ve launched this page to give an overview to some Luxembourg laws and policies which impact dual citizens moving to the country. We also provide some suggestions on how to address each situation.
Each person migrating to Luxembourg has a unique story. Have you experienced administrative or legal challenges in Luxembourg that affect you in a unique way because you are a dual citizen through ancestry? Please use the contact form at the bottom of the page to reach out.
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Language Learning Accessibility

Language and Integration: Unlike individuals who immigrate to Luxembourg as a “foreigner”, Luxembourgish dual citizens who move to Luxembourg are not considered “immigrants”. Very little published information is available for people in this situation. In addition, many dual citizens do not know how to connect with Luxembourg from abroad after obtaining their citizenship. We believe that the Government could implement a resource website for new dual citizens for very little cost. We would also advocate to expand this website to include Luxembourgish civics content and Luxembourgish language classes.
Foreign immigrants moving to Luxembourg have access to these classes at little or no cost, but as citizens we are not entitled to benefit from these free programs. The cost to learn Luxembourgish is very high, our research shows it averages around €25-30[1] per contact hour. Our research also shows 83.6% of American-Luxembourgish dual citizens are interested to learn our country’s native language, but with little educational content online and high cost for classes, it remains an unobtainable goal for most.

Burdens to Dual Citizenship Integration

FATCA: Luxembourg’s implementation of the regulations imposed on it by the United States under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) means that for individuals with American-Luxembourgish dual citizenship it can be extremely burdensome to open even a simple banking account. Dual citizens often move to Luxembourg to find out that they cannot get an apartment without a Luxembourgish bank account, but they cannot obtain the account without an apartment.

LGBTQ Rights & Advocacy

Non-Binary Gender Markers: Currently, Luxembourgish law recognizes the genders male and female. Since June 30th, 2021, the US began working to issue passports with gender markers for non-binary, intersex and gender non-conforming persons. In addition, 10 US states issue birth certificates and IDs with other gender markers. We believe that submission of these documents to Luxembourg will result in administrative complications. The governing coalition has confirmed they want to address this, but no bill has been brought forward. All the while, individuals with non-binary identity documents face major hurdles in Luxembourg.
Children born through surrogacy to same-sex male parents: Luxembourg does not recognize the legal parent relationship between a same-sex male couple and their legal children born through commercial surrogacy in the US, one of its closest allies. A Luxembourgish court has already determined that the Ministry’s position is against the principles of Luxembourgish and International law. However, the Ministry continues to deny citizenship and recognition to these children.

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