Luxembourg visa guideThe Luxembourg business visa is a Schengen short-stay visa (type C) for business visits of up to 90 days in any 180-day period: meetings, negotiations and site visits, but not professional activity. Conferences and fairs have their own category. You, an authorised company representative or a travel agent can submit the file at VFS Global, and the Embassy of Luxembourg in New Delhi decides, usually within 15 calendar days of receiving it.
The file rests on two letters that must match: an invitation on company paper with the complete business programme, dates, your passport details and who pays, and your employer's original covering letter repeating the same facts.
Do Indians need a visa for a business trip to Luxembourg, and which one?
Yes. A Schengen short-stay visa, type C, in the business category. VFS's Luxembourg page defines it narrowly: it is for people visiting Luxembourg for business reasons for up to 90 days, and it does not allow carrying out a professional activity. Meetings, negotiations, site visits and due-diligence trips to a fund administrator in Kirchberg fit; doing paid work does not.
Pick the category carefully, because nobody at the centre will do it for you. VFS states that the visa category must be based on the purpose of travel and chosen by the applicant, and its staff cannot help with that decision. Two categories cover most professional trips:
- Business: visits to a company, with an invitation from that company.
- Cultural, sport event or conference: congresses, fairs and conferences, with an invitation from the organiser and a slightly different list of documents.
The Embassy of Luxembourg in New Delhi decides both. The visa covers up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the Schengen area, and Luxembourg must be the main destination of the trip.
Luxembourg business visa in brief
- VisaNo professional activity allowed
- Schengen type C, business category
- Decided by
- Embassy of Luxembourg, New Delhi
- Who can submit
- You, an authorised company representative or a travel agent
- Key papersBoth must carry the same facts
- Luxembourg invitation and your employer's original letter
- If the company pays
- Its 3 months of bank statements, signed by the branch manager
VFS Global Luxembourg India and the embassy's business checklist, checked 14 Oct 2026
Where do applicants from Punjab apply?
At a VFS Global centre. In Punjab and Chandigarh, there are two: Chandigarh, where Luxembourg submissions are taken Monday to Friday, and Jalandhar, which takes them only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. New Delhi and ten other Indian cities have centres too.
Business applicants have one convenience tourists do not. For business visas, VFS says the applicant, an authorised company representative or a travel agent may come to the centre to submit. The biometric rule still applies: every Schengen applicant in India gives fingerprints and a digital photo in person, unless fingerprints from a Schengen application within the last 59 months can be copied from the earlier file. A first-time traveller therefore still makes the trip personally.
The embassy returns processed passports to the VFS centre, from where you collect them or have them couriered. If you choose courier, you sign a declaration that you have checked the name and address on the courier sticker. Appointment dates are tracked on our Luxembourg appointment availability page.
Which documents depend on your situation?
The embassy's business checklist is built around two letters that must agree with each other.
Invitation from the Luxembourg company
On company paper, stating the purpose of the visit including the complete business programme with planned visits and meetings, the dates of travel, your name, date of birth and passport number, and who covers the travel and accommodation expenses.
Original covering letter from your employer
On business letterhead, stating your position and length of service, and repeating the same purpose, programme, dates and payer as the invitation. Self-employed applicants give an excerpt from the company register or a similar document instead.
Proof of who pays
If the inviting or employing company pays for the trip, that company's bank statements for the last three months, with the branch manager's name and signature.
Your personal finances are needed in every case: salary slips, plus an original letter from your bank on the status of your personal account over the last three months, signed by the branch manager, and income tax returns for at least 2 years.
Employee of an Indian company
- What changes
- Employer's original covering letter; company bank statements if the company pays; your salary slips and bank letter
Business owner or self-employed
- What changes
- A company register excerpt or similar document in place of an employer letter; company bank statements if the firm pays
Attending a conference, fair or congress
- What changes
- Use the conference category: an invitation from the organiser with the complete programme, a copy of the return ticket reservation, and a bank letter on your credit card limit
Invited and paid for by the organiser
- What changes
- The organiser's original letter plus its bank statements for the last three months
All documents go on A4 sheets, in English or with a sworn English translation. The checklist is not exhaustive, and the embassy may ask for more or call you for an interview. For drafting company letters, see our guide to business visitor visas from India.
How much is the Luxembourg business visa fee for Indians?
The business visa carries the standard Schengen fee of €90, which VFS listed as ₹9,900 on 14 October 2026, plus a VFS service charge of ₹2,420 per application. The rupee amount is reset every month end with the exchange rate. Payment is in cash or by Visa, MasterCard or RuPay, and neither the visa fee nor the service charge is refunded if the visa is refused, whoever in your company paid it. Our filing fee is shown at the top of this page.
How long does it take, and when should you apply?
The embassy's standard is 15 calendar days for an admissible application, counted from the day it reaches the embassy in New Delhi. Transit from the VFS centre takes 1 to 4 days each way. If further checks or documents are needed it can reach 45 calendar days, and a file with missing documents is put on hold until they arrive.
For a meeting on a fixed date, work backwards:
- Apply no more than 6 months before the trip.
- Aim for at least 4 weeks before departure, and 6 weeks between March and June, the embassy's peak season.
- Never cut it closer than 15 calendar days. A file that reaches the embassy later than that can be declared inadmissible and returned with the passport, unprocessed.
Why do Luxembourg business visas get refused for Indian applicants?
Luxembourg uses the EU's standard refusal form with numbered reasons. Business files from India tend to fail on these points.
An invitation without the programme (reasons 2 and 10)
The checklist wants the complete business programme, with planned visits and meetings. An invitation that says only "business discussions" leaves the purpose unproven. Ask for a dated agenda in the letter itself.
Missing identity details in the invitation
Your name, date of birth and passport number must appear in the Luxembourg invitation. They are easy to leave out, and without them the letter is not the document the checklist describes.
Two letters that disagree on who pays (reason 3)
If the invitation says the Luxembourg firm pays for the hotel and your employer's letter says the Indian company does, the file contradicts itself on money. The paying company must also supply its own three months of signed bank statements.
Personal finances left out (reasons 3 and 13)
A company-paid trip still needs your salary slips, the signed bank letter on your personal account and two years of ITRs. Without them, the officer cannot see your own ties and standing in India.
Filed too late for a fixed meeting
Less than 15 calendar days before travel and the embassy can return the file unprocessed. Between March and June, the embassy recommends six weeks.
Our Schengen refusal reasons page explains every numbered ground in plain words.
Tips for a stronger file
- Send the Luxembourg company a list. Purpose with programme, dates, your full name, date of birth, passport number, and who pays. Four items, all in one letter on company paper.
- Ask finance early. Company bank statements must carry the branch manager's name and signature, which takes time. Request them when the trip is approved.
- Mirror the letters. Your employer's original letter should repeat the invitation's facts word for word where possible, and add your position and length of service.
- Hotel and transport. A hotel booking, and a transport reservation that includes the connection into Luxembourg. A paid ticket is not required.
- Insurance. Valid in all Schengen countries for the whole stay, at least €30,000, covering accident, urgent medical attention, emergency hospital treatment and repatriation. For a multiple-entry visa you also sign a declaration covering further trips.
- Previous visas. Copies of Schengen visas from the last 5 years show a travel record, which helps frequent business travellers most.
- Photo. Pasted, not stapled, under 6 months old, unedited and without filters.
Business visit or professional activity: where is the line?
The business visa covers visiting, not working. VFS's description says it does not allow carrying out a professional activity, and the EU Delegation to India notes that Schengen visas do not grant the right to work. Paid work in Luxembourg falls under the long-term visa categories, such as a work permit, which are applied for separately and have their own requirements. If a Luxembourg client wants you on site doing productive work, settle the permit question before filing for a business visa.
If the trip is mainly about seeing family who live in Luxembourg, use the Luxembourg family visit visa instead; for a holiday, the Luxembourg tourist visa. The Luxembourg country page has the rest.
Official sources
- VFS Global Luxembourg India: visa types, fees and processing
- VFS Global Luxembourg India: visa application centres
- VFS Global Luxembourg India: Jalandhar centre
- Visa and immigration, Embassy of Luxembourg in New Delhi
- Applying for a Schengen visa, European Commission
- Visa Code, consolidated text (EUR-Lex)
- European Union adopts more favourable Schengen visa rules for Indians, EU Delegation to India
