Note: Last update of this article occurred on December 15th.
1. Can I travel to Luxembourg?
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ban on the entry of third-country nationals into the territory of Luxembourg is valid until 31 December 2020.
The following persons are currently authorised to enter the territory of Luxembourg:
- third-country nationals who have long-term resident status as well as any other persons with a right of residence or holding a national long-term visa issued by an EU Member State or a Schengen country;
- healthcare professionals, health researchers, and elderly care professionals;
- cross-border workers;
- seasonal workers in agriculture;
- transport personnel;
- diplomats, staff of international organisations and people invited by international organisations whose physical presence is required for the well-functioning of these organisations, military personnel, development cooperation personnel, humanitarian aid workers and civil protection personnel in the exercise of their functions;
- passengers in transit;
- passengers travelling for imperative and duly justified family reasons;
- seafarers;
- persons wishing to apply for international protection or for protection for other humanitarian reasons in Luxembourg;
- third-country nationals travelling for the purpose of study;
- highly qualified third-country workers if their employment is necessary from an economic perspective and the work cannot be postponed or performed from abroad.
People in categories 8°, 11° and 12° above need to be in possession of a specific attestation. They must apply for this by sending a specific application by e-mail to the Passport, Visa and Legalisation Office (service.visas@mae.etat.lu). For all further information regarding this subject, please contact the Passport, Visa and Legalisation Office by e-mail (service.visas@mae.etat.lu) or by phone ((+352) 247-88300).
Except for people in categories 5°, 6° and 7° above, and the members of families of people in category 6 above, people in all other categories must produce a negative test. On penalty of being refused entry into the Grand Duchy, any third-country national aged 11 or older wishing to travel by air to the Grand Duchy from a third country must, at the time of boarding, present the results of a biological test to detect the viral RNA of SARS-CoV-2 carried out within 72 hours of take-off indicating the absence of contamination by SARS-CoV-2. The result of the biological test must be presented, together with a translation into one of the Grand Duchy’s three administrative languages or English if it is not in one of these four languages.
It is possible to travel to Luxembourg if arriving from a country included on the following list:
- 🇪🇺 EU
- 🇮🇸 Iceland
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇸🇲 San Marino
- 🇦🇩 Andorra
- 🇲🇨 Monaco
- 🇻🇦Vatican
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇷🇼 Rwanda
- 🇰🇷 South Korea
- 🇹🇭 Thailand
- 🇺🇾 Uruguay
- 🇸🇬 Singapore
- 🇨🇳 China, Hong Kong and Macao (subject to reciprocity at European Union level).
Nationals of an EU country or one of the Schengen Area associated countries are free to enter the European Union, irrespective of the purpose of their stay and not only to return to their home. These people do not need to produce a negative Test before entering the Grand Duchy.
Nationals of the United Kingdom, San Marino, Andorra, Monaco and the Vatican/Holy See are also free to enter the European Union, irrespective of the purpose of their stay and not only to return to their home. These people do not need to produce a negative Test before entering the Grand Duchy either.
Travelers arriving from any other country not included in the list above will not be allowed to enter Luxembourg.
2. Isolation, Quarantine, Self-monitoring
In Luxembourg, one distinguishes between isolation, quarantine and self-monitoring measures.
Isolation
Isolation applies to people who have been confirmed as being infected by COVID-19. They must self-isolate at home and the people living in the same house and their close contacts should quarantine themselves for 7 days. The aim is to prevent infected people – who are contagious – passing the infection on to anyone else.
Isolation is prescribed by the Health Directorate (Direction de la santé) for at least 10 days after the onset of symptoms. For asymptomatic persons, isolation begins on the day of the sampling. During this period of confinement at home, all contact should be avoided with other people and a surgical mask must be worn whenever anyone else is present. Failure to comply with an isolation measure incurs a fine.
Quarantine
Quarantine applies to people who have had high-risk contact with a person with a confirmed infection, i.e. face-to-face contact for more than 15 minutes, unprotected physical contact, etc. These people must stay at home for 7 days counting from the day of the last contact with the infected person. If necessary, the Health Inspectorate (Inspection sanitaire) will provide them with a certificate of incapacity for work. During this period, all unprotected contact with other people must be avoided.
From the 6th day onwards, they will be asked to be tested for COVID-19 at a laboratory of their choice, using the prescription that has been sent to them. If the result is negative, the quarantine requirement is automatically lifted. During the 7 days following the quarantine, they must self-monitor and wear a mask when in contact with other people. If any symptoms appear, they must immediately be tested again and placed in isolation; failure to do so incurs a fine.
Self-monitoring
Self-monitoring lasts 14 days. It applies to people who have had low-risk contact with a person who has been confirmed as being infected. The aim is to detect any symptoms of infection as soon as they appear. People who are self-monitoring take their temperature twice a day and check that they have no respiratory problems or cough and are able to continue with their normal activities.
More information on the measures been taken by authorities in Luxembourg can be found here.
