Luxembourg plan to launch 10-year passports misses 2025 target

Work on issuing Luxembourg passports which are valid for 10 years is continuing, the government has said, after missing an initial target to introduce travel documents with an extended lifespan by last year.

At present, Luxembourg nationals can only obtain a passport with a validity of five years, unlike many of its neighbours and other EU countries which offer 10-year passports.

Before the last parliamentary elections in 2023, then Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn had said that work on developing the new passports was expected to be completed by 2025. That would include technical readiness but also new legislation allowing longer passport validity.

However, that target was missed, and Luxembourg nationals continue to be issued with five-year passports. Responding to questions from the Luxembourg Times, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry did not comment on the reasons for the delay, nor provide a timeline on when the new passports would be introduced.

“We confirm that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still working on the possibility of issuing passports under new modalities adapted to the need of our citizens. Further information is expected to be provided during 2026,” said the spokesperson.

In his response to a parliamentary question in 2023 about plans to extend the validity of Luxembourg passports, Asselborn said that five-year documents were issued because of the technology available at the time of the last law regulating passports back in 2015.

“The maximum validity can be traced back to the fact that the electronic components of the passport chip are currently only guaranteed for five years, as was provided for in the then-public market,” Asselborn said in 2023.

“For the many Luxembourgers living abroad, and who often have to travel far to apply for a passport with biometrics at a consulate, a longer validity is a great relief,” Asselborn added.

Last week the Luxembourg passport was ranked third in the latest edition of the Henley Passport Index, which ranks travel documents of different countries according to which offer the most visa-free access to other nations. Luxembourg offers visa-free access to 186 countries, only surpassed by Singapore, Japan and South Korea.

The number of people acquiring Luxembourg nationality rose by almost 10% last year, according to data published by the justice ministry on Wednesday, assisted by a surge in US citizens seeking nationality.

Earlier this month Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel and Finance Minister Gilles Roth announced new diplomatic representations in seven nations, including missions for the first time in Singapore, Kenya and South Africa, as the Grand Duchy expands its global footprint.