Luxembourg law generally follows jus sanguinis with limited jus soli provisions. Citizenship is automatically given to:
a child of a Luxembourg citizen parent, regardless of the place of birth;
a child born in Luxembourg to a parent born in Luxembourg ; or
a child born in Luxembourg to parents who are stateless or unable to pass their nationality onto their child; or
a child born in Luxembourg to unknown parents.
Furthermore, a child born in Luxembourg to foreign parents, neither of whom were born in Luxembourg, gains Luxembourg citizenship automatically upon turning 18 years old if:
at least one of their parents lived continuously in Luxembourg in the 12 months preceding their birth; and
they have lived continuously in Luxembourg in the 5 years immediately preceding their 18th birthday.
Naturalization
Naturalization is permitted, subject to the following conditions:
being at least eighteen years old;
five years of legal residence in the Grand Duchy, including an uninterrupted period of one year immediately before applying for citizenship;
taking a course on "living together in the Grand Duchy" and passing the associated examination; and
never having been handed an immediate custodial sentence of 12 months or more or a suspended custodial sentence of 24 months or more, in any country.
Acquisition of nationality by option
Luxembourg law also provides for the possibility to acquire nationality by option, which is a separate legal concept from naturalization. Obtaining nationality by option is permitted in the following ten cases:
Adults with a parent or grandparent who is/was a Luxembourger and was unable to pass Luxembourg nationality to the person at birth ;
Parents of Luxembourg minors ;
Persons who are married to a Luxembourg citizen ;
Persons aged 12 or above who were born in Luxembourg and did not automatically become a citizen at birth due to neither of their parents being Luxembourg citizens or born in Luxembourg ;
Adults who have completed at least 7 years' schooling in Luxembourg ;
Adults who have legally resided in Luxembourg for at least 20 years ;
Adults who have fulfilled the obligations of the Welcome and Integration Contract, a free, optional course available to any foreigner living in Luxembourg ;
Adults who settled in Luxembourg before turning 18 ;
Volunteer soldiers who have completed one year of good and loyal service, as certified by the Luxembourg Army's Chief of Staff.
All of the options also have the same "good repute" requirements as for naturalisation, i.e. the applicant must never have been handed an immediate custodial sentence of 12 months or more or a suspended custodial sentence of 24 months or more, in any country.
Recovery of citizenship
It is also possible to "recover" Luxembourg nationality if a person can prove that they have an ancestor who was a Luxembourg citizen as of 1 January 1900. The Luxembourg diaspora at the time moved to France, Belgium and the US. By the end of 2013, thousands of people had recovered the nationality of their Luxembourg ancestor.
Loss of nationality
A Luxembourg citizen aged 18 or over may renounce their citizenship at any time, free of charge, provided that doing so would not render them stateless. A Luxembourg citizen who became such by naturalization, option or recovery may be stripped of their citizenship if it emerges that they obtained it by making false statements or through a marriage of convenience, provided that such an action would not render them stateless.
Dual citizenship
Since 1 January 2009, Luxembourg has allowed dual citizenship. Since then, many Belgians have made use of the new law to adopt Belgian-Luxembourg citizenship, especially Belgians living in Arelerland, a part of the Belgian province of Luxembourg at the border with the Grand Duchy.
Visa requirements for Luxembourg citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Luxembourg. In 2015, Luxembourg citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 171 countries and territories, ranking the Luxembourg passport 3rd in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index. In 2017, Luxembourg nationality is ranked sixteenth in Nationality Index. This index differs from the Visa Restrictions Index, which focuses on external factors including travel freedom. The QNI considers, in addition, to travel freedom on internal factors such as peace & stability, economic strength, and human development as well.
