ANNUAL REPORT ON MIGRATION AND ASYLUM Luxembourg 2019

The present report provides an overview of the main developments and debates in relation to migration and asylum in Luxembourg in 2019.
Luxembourg remains an important country of immigration, as evidenced by the figures on net migration, which remains the main reason for the demographic growth of the Luxembourgish resident population. Net immigration of third-country nationals remains high (7 336) and exceeds that of citizens of the European Union (EU; 4 806).
The number of people applying for international protection remained high in 2019 (2 047 applications) compared to the levels registered pre-‘migration crisis’ (1 091 in 2014). Family reunification remains the principal reason for third-country nationals to immigrate to Luxembourg, followed by economic reasons and international protection.
Several major developments occurred in the field of legal migration. The introduction of a new long-term visa simplifies the entry and stay of third-country nationals for a period of up to one year, without having to apply for a residence permit.
In order to guarantee the rights of British citizens working and residing in Luxembourg before the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the EU (Brexit) four laws were adopted, most of them were supposed to enter into force if there was a non-deal Brexit. Other important changes related to migration result from the adoption of the law of 4 December 2019 amending the law of 29 August 2009 on the free movement of persons and immigration (hereinafter Immigration Law). This law takes into account the expert’s comments during the evaluation in 2016 of the application of Schengen.