Luxembourg visa guideThe Luxembourg family and friends visit visa is a Schengen short-stay visa (type C) for staying with relatives or friends in Luxembourg, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. You, an authorised representative or a travel agent file it at VFS Global, at Chandigarh, Jalandhar or New Delhi among others, and the Embassy of Luxembourg in New Delhi decides, usually within 15 calendar days of receiving it.
The host's prise en charge carries the file: a formal obligation they fill in and sign, which Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs then signs or stamps. You add proof of the relationship, an original bank letter, two years of tax returns and proof of your ties to India.
Do Indians need a visa to visit family in Luxembourg, and which one?
Yes. A son working in Kirchberg, a daughter studying at the university in Belval, a cousin settled in Esch-sur-Alzette: to visit any of them, an Indian passport holder needs a Schengen short-stay visa, type C, in Luxembourg's "Visit Family or Friends" category. VFS describes it as a visa for up to 90 days for people who wish to visit family or friends.
The Embassy of Luxembourg in New Delhi decides, and Luxembourg has to be the main destination of the trip. The visa covers up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the Schengen area.
What sets this category apart is the host's paperwork. Luxembourg does not settle for a simple invitation letter. It wants a formal obligation, the prise en charge, filled in and signed by your host and then signed or stamped by Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. The embassy's checklist marks it mandatory.
Luxembourg family visit visa: what to know first
- Visa
- Schengen type C, visit family or friends
- Host's key documentEndorsed by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
- Prise en charge (formal obligation)
- Accepted as
- Original certified true copy or digital copy
- Friends allowedPhotos together and chats can show the link
- Yes
- Who can submitFingerprints still given in person if not on file
- You, an authorised representative or a travel agent
VFS Global Luxembourg India and the embassy's family visit checklist, checked 14 Oct 2026
Where do applicants from Punjab apply?
At VFS Global. In this region, Luxembourg applications go in at Chandigarh, Monday to Friday, or at Jalandhar, where submission hours for Luxembourg are Tuesday and Thursday only. New Delhi and other cities have centres too.
Family visits have a practical advantage over tourist visas. VFS says that for visits to family and friends, the applicant, an authorised company representative or a travel agent may come to the centre to submit, while tourist applicants must submit in person. Biometrics are the exception: every Schengen applicant in India gives fingerprints and a digital photo in person, unless fingerprints from a Schengen application in the last 59 months can be copied from the earlier file. Children under 12 give no fingerprints, but all minors must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian when the application is submitted.
For elderly parents, that means one visit to the centre for biometrics on a first application. On a repeat application within 59 months, the file can be handed in for them. Our Luxembourg appointment availability page shows how dates are moving.
Which documents depend on your situation?
The family checklist drops three things the tourist checklist asks for: the hotel booking, the travel programme and the credit card letter. In their place come the prise en charge and proof of your relationship with the host. What else you add depends on who you are:
Retired parents
- What the checklist expects
- Pension slips for the last 3 months, plus the bank letter and income tax returns
Salaried
- What the checklist expects
- Salary slips for 3 months, employment contract, and an original covering letter on the employer's letterhead giving your position, length of service and the leave granted
Self-employed
- What the checklist expects
- Excerpt from the company register, GST registration or a similar document
Student
- What the checklist expects
- An original covering letter from the school or college confirming the leave or vacation
Visiting a friend, not a relative
- What the checklist expects
- Proof of the link such as pictures together or chats, since there is no legal relationship to document
Child travelling alone or with one parent
- What the checklist expects
- Notarised consent of both parents, or of the parent not travelling, with copies of their signed ID
For every applicant, the money proof includes an original letter from your bank on the status of your personal account over the last 3 months, carrying the branch manager's name and signature, and income tax returns for at least 2 years. A net-banking statement is not the same document.
For relatives, the checklist gives examples of relationship proof: passport copies and birth or marriage certificates. Make the names on those certificates match the passports, and explain any spelling difference in a short note.
All papers go on A4 sheets, in English or with a sworn English translation. The embassy may ask for more documents or call you for an interview.
How much is the Luxembourg family visit visa fee for Indians?
Each adult pays the €90 Schengen visa fee, which VFS listed as ₹9,900 on 14 October 2026; a child aged 6 to 11 pays ₹4,950, and children under 6 pay nothing. VFS adds a service charge of ₹2,420 per application. Two parents applying together therefore pay two visa fees and two service charges. The rupee fee is reset every month end, payment is in cash or by Visa, MasterCard or RuPay, and nothing is refunded if the visa is refused. Our filing fee is shown at the top of this page.
How long does it take, and when should you apply?
The embassy aims to decide an admissible application within 15 calendar days of receiving it in New Delhi, with 1 to 4 days of transit each way from the VFS centre. If further checks or documents are needed, it can take up to 45 calendar days, and an incomplete file waits on hold.
The prise en charge usually decides your start date, because your host has to arrange it in Luxembourg first. After that:
- File no earlier than 6 months before the trip.
- File at least 4 weeks before travel, or 6 weeks in the March to June peak season, as the embassy recommends.
- Never later than 15 calendar days before travel. An application received after that can be declared inadmissible and returned with the passport, unprocessed.
Why do Luxembourg family visit visas get refused for Indian applicants?
Luxembourg uses the EU's standard refusal form with numbered reasons. In family files, the trouble usually starts with one of these.
A sponsorship letter without the ministry's endorsement (reason 3)
A host's private letter promising support is not the prise en charge. The formal obligation must be filled in and signed by your host and signed or stamped by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Without it, the means of the stay are not proven the way Luxembourg requires.
A relationship that is asserted, not shown (reasons 2 and 10)
For relatives, add passport copies and birth or marriage certificates. For friends, show the friendship with pictures together and chats, as the checklist suggests. A purpose that cannot be checked looks unjustified.
Doubts that you will return (reason 13)
Parents whose children have settled abroad are the classic case. Show what keeps you in India: pension slips, the signed bank letter, two years of ITRs, property and the family who stay behind.
Insurance that stops short (reason 16)
The policy must cover all Schengen countries for the entire stay with at least €30,000 for accident, urgent medical attention, emergency hospital treatment and repatriation. VFS links the approved list of Indian insurers.
Waiting too long for the host's papers
If the prise en charge arrives late and you file less than 15 calendar days before travel, the embassy can return the application unprocessed. Start the host's side first.
Each numbered reason is explained in plain words on our Schengen refusal reasons page.
Tips for a stronger file
- Use the digital copy. The embassy accepts the original certified true copy or the digital copy of the prise en charge. A digital copy saves an international courier; ask your host to send it as soon as it is issued.
- Both sheets. Proof of sponsorship means two sheets, a letter and the form. Send both.
- Show the route in. The transport reservation must include the intra-Schengen flight, train or bus into Luxembourg; if your host will drive you from Frankfurt or Brussels, say so in writing. No paid ticket is needed.
- Retired parents. The covering letter on letterhead is written for employees, business owners and students. A retired parent has no employer, so add a signed note explaining the pension and the family in India, next to the pension slips.
- Photo. Pasted, not stapled, under 6 months old, unedited and with no filter.
- Old visas. Copies of Schengen visas from the last 5 years show earlier trips and returns.
- Courier. If you choose courier, you sign a declaration confirming the name and address on the courier sticker.
What does your host in Luxembourg have to do?
Your host carries the Luxembourg side, and it has to be done before you can file.
Apply for the formal obligation
Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs lists an application process for the formal obligation, the "demande d'engagement de prise en charge", through MyGuichet.lu, the government's online portal.
Fill in and sign the form
The host completes and signs the prise en charge as your sponsor, together with a covering letter. The checklist calls this proof of sponsorship in two sheets.
Get the ministry's signature or stamp
The form must be signed or stamped by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Until then it is not the document the embassy needs.
Send it to you
Send the original certified true copy or the digital copy, plus a copy of their passport, and any birth or marriage certificates that prove the relationship.
Is there a free route if your relative is an EU citizen?
Possibly. VFS lists family members of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens as paying no visa fee, under a separate category with its own checklist. That checklist asks for an official copy of the birth, marriage or registered partnership certificate, legalised or apostilled, proof that your relative is using or has recently used the right to free movement, such as their Luxembourg residence permit, and proof that you are travelling with them or joining them.
Parents need one more thing: if you are a dependent parent, the checklist asks for proof of that status, meaning regular and substantial financial support from your EU relative. Without it, the ordinary family visit route on this page applies. For a holiday without a host, see the Luxembourg tourist visa guide; the Luxembourg country page covers 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
- VFS Global Luxembourg India: Chandigarh centre
- Visa, Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
- Applying for a Schengen visa, European Commission
- Visa Code, consolidated text (EUR-Lex)
