Procedures after the birth of a newborn in Luxembourg

Any birth on Luxembourg soil must be declared to the commune where the child was born. You will find here all the administrative steps to take to register your newborn in Luxembourg.

Who declares the birth of a child?

In general, the birth is declared by the father or mother of the newborn.

Otherwise, the steps can be taken by anyone who attended the birth, such as the doctor or midwife.

Declaration of a newborn child to the civil status

How to register a birth

All births must be declared to the commune where the birth took place. This formality is the legal responsibility of the parents.

Even though the civil registry is informed daily of births in Luxembourg hospitals and clinics, this does not constitute a declaration of birth.

If the child is not declared to the registry office within the legal time limit, the child is not legally recognized. In this case, the birth certificate will be registered by court order. This can result in significant legal fees for the parents.

The birth of a baby must be reported within 10 days of the day of delivery. However, if the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the time limit is extended to the next business day if the last day falls on a weekend or legal holiday .

Please note that non-Luxembourgish parents must declare the baby to the commune of birth and then to their respective consulate or embassy. If the parents are nationals of a country that does not have a consulate or embassy in Luxembourg, they should contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Non-residents must register the child in the municipality of birth. In addition, they must take the necessary steps with their own municipality to have the child recognized in their country of residence.

Civil status for the City of Luxembourg: Bierger-Center 44, place Guillaume II / 2, rue Notre-Dame – 1st floor L-2090 Luxembourg.

A father who takes care of civil status procedures is entitled to 10 days of extraordinary leave for the birth of his child.See parental leave in Luxembourg

Documents to be presented to declare a birth

To declare the birth of a child, several documents must be presented depending on the situation:

The birth notice issued by the midwife or doctor to the parents of the newborn,
Form to choose the child’s surname (for Luxembourg, French, Belgian and Portuguese nationals). this form must be signed by both parents.
The family record book or a marriage certificate, if the child is born to a married couple
The identity card of the declarant if other than one of the parents, the father and the mother
If one of the parents is of Luxembourg nationality or was born in Luxembourg: a joint declaration, signed by both parents, specifying the child’s name.

Careful! The marriage certificate must be translated into French, German or English.

Steps to be taken in addition to civil status

Other organizations

Once the birth is declared, the registrar will issue eight birth certificates. These copies should be sent to the following organizations:

Themunicipal administration of the place of residence if it is different from the place of birth
The employer
The National Fund for the Future of Children (CAE), along with the applications for the birth allowance and for the future of the child
The Caisse Maladie in order toregister the child with the health insurance and to obtain his/her national identification number
Your insurance for compliance of your various insurance contracts if necessary
Department ofHousing ‘sHousing Assistance Service if parents are receiving housing assistance
Embassy or consulate of the country of origin
…

Don’t forget to inform the reception service for your child in order to organize his next daycare as soon as possible. You may want to consider applying in advance, especially if the facility you are targeting is in high demand.

Baby-years with pension insurance

Any parent who is affiliated to the Luxembourg social security system AND who has devoted himself/herself to the education of his/her child, including adopted children under the age of 4, benefits from 2 additional years in his career taken into account for his pension insurance. This Theperiod called Baby years is 48 months if at the time of the birth, the parent is already taking care of 2 children or has a child with a disability of more than 50%.

In order to benefit from this benefit, the applicant must prove a minimum of 12 months of compulsory insurance in Luxembourg or in a country of the European Union, during the 36 months preceding the birth or adoption of the child.

The application must be filed with the National Pension Insurance Fund at any time. However, it will only be validated at the time of the pension application.

The baby years can only benefit one parent or be divided between both parents. The amount of income used is the average monthly income contributed during the 12 months of insurance prior to the birth. A cost of living minimum will be used for this calculation.

Are you pregnant? More information on maternity leave