UK nationals were given until 30 June 2021 to apply for residency in Luxembourg in the wake of the country leaving the EU at the end of 2020. They risked losing their right to live and work in the country as well as access to social benefits if they failed to register with authorities.
The Luxembourg government several times pushed back this deadline, first to the end of 2021, then 2022 and further to mid-2023 as some stragglers remained.
“The very large majority of concerned persons made the application in due time,” the foreign ministry said in an email. “4,300 residence documents for beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement have been issues until now.”
The ministry could not indicate how many people have yet to re-register, saying the immigration department is “currently analysing the situation of the (very few) persons that have not yet applied for a residence document.”
That includes ascertaining whether the people concerned still live in Luxembourg or failed to de-register when leaving the country, but also establishing whether they gained Luxembourg citizenship in the meantime.
The number of UK nationals getting Luxembourg citizenship jumped in the wake of Brexit. While in 2015, before the referendum, 75 people gained citizenship, this number nearly doubled the following year. Between 2016 and last year, a total of 2,028 UK nationals obtained a Luxembourg passport.
“The persons that still need to apply will be contacted one more time in order to inform them that the application has to be made before 30 June 2023,” the ministry said.
Should they fail to do so, the situation will be “evaluated on a case-by-case basis,” for example looking at the reasons why the application was submitted too late or whether the person can apply for a different type of residence document.
Around 1.3m Brits were living in the EU at the time of Brexit.
Eurostat data published at the end of March showed that Sweden had expelled 1,100 British citizens in the wake of the UK’s departure from the bloc. France ordered 115 people to leave and Germany told 40 Brits to depart for failing to properly re-register after Brexit but also not fulfilling requirements for residence status.
The Netherlands deported 720 British nationals and Malta 135. Luxembourg has not yet deported any Brits after extending the re-registration deadline several times.