Workers bound by an employment contract with a company abroad (transferring company), can be transferred to another entity within the same company or group of companies as a specialist or manager in order to provide specific skills, or as a trainee employee in order to acquire certain business techniques.
To stay and work in Luxembourg for more than 3 months, third-country national transferred workers must before entering the country:
- have a temporary authorisation to stay issued by the Directorate of Immigration (Direction de l’immigration) of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (Ministère des Affaires étrangères et européennes);
- hold a valid passport;
- where necessary, apply for a type D visa after obtaining the temporary authorisation to stay;
- after entering the country:
- file a declaration of arrival within 3 days of arriving in their new commune of residence;
- undergo a medical check, and;
- apply for a residence permit for temporary intra-corporate transferees.
All third-country nationals who reside abroad and wish to stay and work in Luxembourg as temporary intra-corporate transferees require a temporary authorisation to stay and then a residence permit.
The application for the authorisation to stay must be submitted by the host company (a Luxembourg entity) to the competent authorities before the third-country national enters the country.
Prerequisites
The transferred worker must have an employment contract with the company established in a third-country before and during the transfer to Luxembourg.
Where and how to apply | Preliminary steps Third-country nationals must meet the following requirements first:
How to proceed Before entering the country The hosting employer must submit a considered and detailed application for a temporary authorisation to stay to:
The application must be accompanied by the following documents relating to the third-country national:
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. In case of a favourable reply, the third-country national receives a "temporary authorisation to stay" sent by post. This temporary authorisation to stay is valid for a duration of 90 days. Passports and visas If they do not require a visa, the third-country national may enter Luxembourg with their authorisation to stay and their passport. If the third-country national does require a visa, they must apply for a type D visa, before their trip and from their country of origin. The application, along with their authorisation to stay, must be submitted to:
The visa, in the form of a seal, is affixed in the passport and is valid for 3 months. If the passport of the third-country national is due to expire in less than 6 months, it should be renewed before coming to Luxembourg. After entering Luxembourg, the third-country national must take steps to obtain a residence permit. If the third-country national has a valid residence permit for family members of an EU citizen, or a valid residence permit issued by another EU Member State, a visa is not required. The third-country national must nonetheless have a temporary authorisation to stay. After entering the country Declaration of arrival Third-country transferred workers must file a declaration of arrival with the authorities of their commune of residence within 3 days of arriving in Luxembourg. In doing so, they will be expected to produce:
Medical check-up Third-country transferred workers wishing to stay in Luxembourg for more than 3 months must undergo a medical check for third-country nationals as soon as possible after arriving in Luxembourg. This check comprises:
After receiving the results of these examinations, the Immigration Medical Department (Service Médical de l'Immigration - SMI) of the National Health Directorate (Direction de la Santé) will issue a medical certificate, which will be sent to the Directorate of Immigration (Direction de l'Immigration) of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (ministère des Affaires étrangères et européennes) to allow the residence permit application to be processed. Residence permit application Third-country nationals wishing to stay for more than 3 months must file an application for a residence permit for intra-corporate transferees (ICT) with the Directorate of Immigrationwithin 90 days of their arrival in Luxembourg. The following documents must be sent together with the residence permit application:
|
Validity period and renewal | The residence permit for "workers under an intra-corporate transfer scheme" is valid for a minimum of 1 year for transferred managers or specialists or only for the duration of the stay if the duration of the transfer is shorter. In the case of trainees, the residence permit for "workers under an intra-corporate transfer scheme" is valid for the duration of the transfer. The residence permit is renewable but may not exceed:
|
Appeals | Negative decisions related to authorisation to stay can be challenged before the First instance Administrative Court within three months of notification of the ministerial decision. If the First instance Administrative Court rejects the appeal the decision a further appeal can be filed before the Administrative Court within 40 days of judgement notification. |
Change of status | The third-country national can change his/her status to another category of residence permit if the applicant fulfils the conditions to grant this residence permit. |
Staying as a family member of a transferred worker | If the transferred worker wishes to be accompanied by their spouse/partner, or their single underage children (or those of the spouse/partner), they must include the documents required for family reunification. |
If the third-country national is required to stay in several EU Member States, the application for the authorisation to stay has to be submitted to the competent authorities of the first Member State in which the transferee will stay.
In addition, if the transferee stays in Luxembourg first but the stay is not the one with the longest duration, the authorisation to stay must be applied for to the competent authorities of the other Member State.
If the application was submitted in another Member State first and the third-country national therefore already has a valid authorisation to stay / residence permit for an intra-corporate transfer, the worker can make use of his right to mobility in Luxembourg, and work in any other undertaking established in Luxembourg provided said undertaking belongs to the same company or group of companies as the one in the third country of origin.
There are 2 types of stay in Luxembourg: a stay with short-term mobility and a stay with long-term mobility.
It should be noted that it is not possible to apply for both types of stay at the same time. If short-term mobility has already been applied for and granted but long-term mobility was actually needed, the application for long-term mobility has to be submitted to the Minister responsible for immigration at least 20 days prior to the end of the short-term mobility period.
Short-term mobility | Third-country nationals can stay in Luxembourg for a maximum period of 90 days during a period of 180 days, provided that the host company established in the first Member State has notified the Luxembourg Minister responsible for immigration. The notification must be submitted together with the following documents:
If the documents are not drawn up in German, French or English, an official translation by a sworn translator must be enclosed. The notification must also be submitted to the competent authorities in the first Member State. The third-country national can come to Luxembourg immediately after the notification is submitted, or at any later time, provided that the validity period of the intra-corporate transferee (ICT) residence permit issued by the first Member State has not expired. Objection by the Minister to short-term mobility The Minister can object to the third-country national's short-term mobility within 20 days from receiving the notification from the first Member State if:
If the Minister does oppose their mobility, the transferred third-country national is not authorised to work in Luxembourg. If the third-country national is already in Luxembourg, the Minister can request that the professional activity must stop and that the person concerned must leave the country if the Minister:
|
Long-term mobility | Third-country nationals can stay in Luxembourg for a maximum period more than 90 days, provided that the host company established in the first Member State has applied for a residence permit to the Luxembourg Minister responsible for immigration. The application must be accompanied by the following documents:
If the documents are not drawn up in German, French or English, an official translation by a 'sworn' translator must be enclosed. The third-country national does not have to leave the territory of the EU Member States to submit the application for long-term mobility. The third-country national is authorised to work in Luxembourg until the Minister in charge of immigration has made a decision regarding the long-term mobility application, provided that:
If the application is approved, the third-country national will be granted a residence permit "mobile ICT", which allows him/her to stay and work in Luxembourg. The third-country national must undergo a medical check and declare his/her arrival in the commune of residence. If the residence permit is denied, the third-country national is sent back to the first Member State in which he/she resided with the authorisation to stay / residence permit ICT. |