Residence permit for private reasons (third-country national able to live on their own resources)
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Titre de séjour avec la mention « vie privée » (ressortissant de pays tiers pouvant vivre de ses seules ressources) as of 2026-06-12[2] |
|---|---|
| Official name (English) | Residence permit for private reasons (third-country national able to live on their own resources) as of 2023-07-17[1] Guichet's page is titled 'Conditions of residence in Luxembourg for private reasons for third-country nationals' and refers to 'the residence permit for "personal reasons"'. The qualifier is this record's scoping, not part of the official name. |
| Legal basis | Loi modifiée du 29 août 2008 sur la libre circulation des personnes et l'immigration, art. 78(1)1° and art. 79 as of 2026-06-12[2] Art. 78(1)1° defines the own-resources limb, art. 78(2) the resources test and its delegation to a grand-ducal regulation, art. 79 the permit's duration and renewal. |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-06-12[2] Art. 79(1) issues a 'titre de séjour' under art. 40. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2023-07-17[1] Guichet: 'Any third-country national (i.e. a national from a country which is not an EU Member State or a country treated as such – Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland)'. |
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| Minimum age | Not established from a qualifying source as of 2026-06-12[1][2] No minimum age is stated for this limb. Art. 78(1)1° turns on the source of the applicant's resources, not on age, and admits a professional activity abroad as readily as an old-age pension, so this is not a retirement route with an age floor. Recorded unknown rather than not_applicable because neither source addresses the question directly. |
| Criminal-record condition | Yes as of 2023-07-17[1] Guichet: the authorisation-to-stay application must be accompanied by 'an extract from their criminal records or an affidavit (sworn declaration) established in the country of residence'; renewal requires a recent Luxembourg criminal-record extract. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | up to 3 years as of 2026-06-12[1][2] Art. 79(1): the 'vie privée' permit is 'valable pour une durée qui ne peut excéder trois ans'. Guichet: 'The residence permit is valid for a maximum of 3 years.' Both frame three years as a ceiling, so bound 'maximum' is set. |
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| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-06-12[1][2] Art. 79(1): renewable on request 'si après réexamen de sa situation il appert qu'il continue à remplir les conditions fixées à l'article 78'. |
| Work rights | Not established from a qualifying source as of 2026-06-12[1][2] |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Yes as of 2026-06-12[1][2] Guichet: 'After 5 years of lawful and uninterrupted stay on the territory of Luxembourg, third-country nationals may submit an application for a long-term residence permit.' Art. 80(2)'s exclusions from long-term resident status do not cover the 'vie privée' permit. |
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Requirements
| Minimum income | Not established from a qualifying source as of 2026-06-12[1][2] |
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| Qualifying income types | employment, pension as of 2026-06-12[1][2] |
| Work prohibited | Not established from a qualifying source as of 2026-06-12[1][2] Same evidence and same conclusion as permit.work_rights: art. 79(3) omits this limb from the categories that may move to a salaried-worker permit, but neither source states a prohibition. Not answered either way. |
Process
| Where to apply from | from abroad only as of 2023-07-17[1] Guichet: third-country nationals 'must apply for an authorisation to stay (on plain paper) from their country of origin'. |
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| Statutory processing time | 3 months as of 2023-07-17[1] Guichet: 'The ministry normally responds within 3 months. If no response is received within this time, the application has been rejected.' |
| Fees |
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Physical presence
| maximum consecutive absence | 6 months · to keep the permit as of 2023-07-17[1] |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Not established from a qualifying source as of 2023-07-17[1] |
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Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.
Profile benefits
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Verification
| Sources cited | 2 |
|---|---|
| of which official (tier 1) | 2 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2023-07-17 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-06-12 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-17 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Conditions of residence in Luxembourg for private reasons for third-country nationals
Guichet.lu – Ministry of Home Affairs, General Department of immigration · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2023-07-17 · Accessed 2026-08-14 - [2] Version consolidée applicable au 12/06/2026 : Loi du 29 août 2008 portant sur la libre circulation des personnes et l'immigration
Journal officiel du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (Legilux) · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-12 · Accessed 2026-08-14