Software developer · Luxembourg

Work in Luxembourg
as a software developer.

Luxembourg runs two routes, and only one of them carries a salary figure in the sources behind this page. Several countries publish a reduced threshold for shortage occupations; neither official page we checked here does, which is worth knowing before planning around a number read somewhere else.

Recognition
Not regulated
Work permits sourced
2
Official sources
7
Last checked
2026-08-03
Build my roadmap →Compare the permits

The short answer

Two questions, and they are not the same question.

◎No licence decision

Recognition

Not regulated · no recognition decision required

No authority approves your qualification before you take this job in Luxembourg. That is a sourced finding, not an absence of research: the links at the bottom of this page are what it rests on.

↗Always required

Work authorisation

Whatever the recognition branch says, you still need the legal right to work in Luxembourg. We have sourced 2 routes for a qualification obtained outside the EU and EEA.

  • Residence permit for salaried workers
  • EU Blue Card

Work authorisation

Every permit we can source,
side by side.

Open the full roadmap →

Residence permit for salaried workers

General Department of Immigration (Direction générale de l'Immigration), Ministry of Home Affairs

Checklist
Temporary authorisation to stay, decision by the General Department of Immigration
Normally a maximum of 4 months
First residence permit
Valid for a maximum of 1 year
Residence permit for salaried workers
€80
Type D national visa (if you are a visa-required national)
Not published on the pages reviewed — confirm the fee with the Luxembourg diplomatic mission handling your case
Everything about Residence permit for salaried workers →
The procedure, step by step4 steps · 2 possible outcomes
  1. Have your employer declare the vacant position to the National Employment Agency (ADEM). If ADEM has not presented a suitable candidate within three weeks, your employer can ask ADEM's director for a certificate that allows you specifically to be recruited.
  2. Gather your documents: a full copy of your passport, a criminal record extract or an affidavit, your CV and diplomas, and an employment contract compliant with Luxembourg law, dated and signed, together with the original ADEM certificate.
  3. Before travelling to Luxembourg, apply for the temporary authorisation to stay from the General Department of Immigration.If you are a visa-required national, request the type D visa only once you already hold this temporary authorisation — not before. Guichet.public.lu describes the two as sequential, both completed before you enter Luxembourg.
  4. Once you are in Luxembourg, make your declaration of arrival at your commune administration, complete the medical check-up, and only then apply for the residence permit for salaried workers from the General Department of Immigration.

Possible outcomes

  • A residence permit for salaried workers, valid for a maximum of one year at first and renewable for a maximum of three years.
  • Refusal, where your employer has not obtained the ADEM certificate, where the employment contract does not comply with Luxembourg law, or where the other conditions of the procedure are not met.

EU Blue Card

General Department of Immigration (Direction générale de l'Immigration), Ministry of Home Affairs

Checklist
Salary floor
EUR 65,652 a year (2026 figure)Guichet.public.lu states the EU Blue Card requires "an annual salary at least equal to the amount set by Grand-Ducal regulation", giving that amount as EUR 65,652 without itself dating the figure. FEDIL, Luxembourg's federation of industry employers, states the figure was fixed by the ministerial regulation of 23 February 2026 and has applied since 3 March 2026. Neither page reviewed publishes a reduced threshold for shortage occupations — do not assume a lower figure applies to your case without confirming with the immigration authority.
Qualification
A document proving you possess the high professional qualifications required for the activity or sector named in your employment contract, or that you meet the requirements to carry out the profession named in the contract. Guichet.public.lu does not set a specific number of years of education or of professional experience beyond this.
Temporary authorisation to stay, decision by the General Department of Immigration
Maximum of 3 months
EU Blue Card, first issue
4 years; or, where the employment contract runs for less than 4 years, the contract's duration plus 3 months
EU Blue Card (residence permit)
€80
Type D national visa (if you are a visa-required national)
Not published on the pages reviewed — confirm the fee with the Luxembourg diplomatic mission handling your case
Everything about EU Blue Card →
The procedure, step by step4 steps · 4 possible outcomes
  1. Secure an employment contract of at least six months for highly qualified work, paying at least the salary floor set by Grand-Ducal regulation.
  2. Gather a document proving your high professional qualifications for the role, together with a full copy of your passport, a criminal record extract or affidavit, your CV, a copy of your diplomas, and the signed employment contract compliant with Luxembourg law.Guichet.public.lu states that highly qualified workers "are not subject to the obligation of a labour market test", unlike the ordinary salaried-worker permit.
  3. Before travelling to Luxembourg, apply for the temporary authorisation to stay from the General Department of Immigration.If you are a visa-required national, request the type D visa only once you already hold this temporary authorisation — not before. Guichet.public.lu describes the two as sequential, both completed before you enter Luxembourg.
  4. Once you are in Luxembourg, make your declaration of arrival at your commune administration, complete the medical check-up, and only then apply for the EU Blue Card itself from the General Department of Immigration.

Possible outcomes

  • An EU Blue Card, valid for 4 years, or for the employment contract's duration plus three months where the contract runs for less than four years.
  • Any change of your employer's sector or profession during the card's validity requires the minister's prior authorisation, who has 30 days to object once notified.
  • A route towards long-term resident status after five years of legal residence in the EU, with the last two years held in Luxembourg.
  • Refusal, where the salary floor or the qualification condition is not met, or where requested documents are not supplied within the deadline set.

Document preparation

What you still have to prepare.

Ordered the way the procedure runs, from an origin outside the EU and EEA. Pick your own country of qualification below and the planner reorders it for you.

1

Prepare your documents

  1. Request certified copies of your degree and full academic transcripts from the Indian university or board that issued them.
  2. The Apostille Convention has been in force for India since 14 July 2005, so an apostille replaces consular legalisation. An Indian educational document cannot go straight to the apostille, though: it is authenticated first by the Regional Authentication Centre of the State or Union Territory whose authority signed it, and the Ministry of External Affairs apostilles it afterwards on the strength of that signature.Which office acts as the RAC, what it charges and how long it takes are set by each State or Union Territory, not by the MEA.
  3. Since July 2012 the MEA has not accepted documents directly from applicants. They go through one of the four authorised outsourced agencies — BLS International Services, Superb Enterprises, IVS Global Services or Alhind Tours & Travels — and since 1 January 2019 the service also runs from Branch Secretariats and Regional Passport Offices in 16 cities.The MEA advises applicants not to rely on unauthorised persons or touts. Nobody outside those channels can lodge an apostille for you.
  4. If your certificate already sits in an Indian digital depository — CBSE documents from 2014 onwards, or anything issued through the National Academic Depository — e-Sanad handles the apostille online and the physical route does not apply. CBSE physical copies from 2014 onwards are no longer accepted over the counter.
  5. An apostille certifies the signature and seal of the Indian authority that signed your document. It says nothing about what the document contains: the MEA states explicitly that it does not take responsibility for the contents.It is a check on the paperwork, never a statement about the level or the content of your qualification.

What it costs

MEA apostille
Rs 50 per apostille sticker
Authorised agency service charge
Rs 84 per document, plus Rs 3 per page for scanning
State authentication before the apostille
Set by the State or Union Territory that authenticates the document — confirm the current fee with the relevant RAC

Where you qualified

The answer changes
with your country.

Everything we cover →

Qualified outside the EU and EEA — permit required

Colombia → LuxembourgOpen this roadmapArgentina → LuxembourgOpen this roadmapIndia → LuxembourgOpen this roadmapPhilippines → LuxembourgOpen this roadmapNigeria → LuxembourgOpen this roadmapBrazil → LuxembourgOpen this roadmap

People reach this page looking for

  • EU Blue Card Luxembourg salary
  • Luxembourg work permit for developers
  • Luxembourg residence permit salaried worker
  • work visa Luxembourg IT
  • Luxembourg Blue Card threshold

Questions

Answered from the same sources.

Is software developer a regulated profession in Luxembourg?

No. We verified that software developer is not a regulated profession in Luxembourg, which means no authority has to approve your qualification before you may hold the job. You still need a legal right to work there.

Which work permits can a software developer apply for in Luxembourg?

We have sourced 2: Residence permit for salaried workers, EU Blue Card. Each one has its own conditions, and this page compares them side by side rather than recommending one.

What salary do you need to work in Luxembourg as a software developer?

EU Blue Card: EUR 65,652 a year (2026 figure, Guichet.public.lu states the EU Blue Card requires "an annual salary at least equal to the amount set by Grand-Ducal regulation", giving that amount as EUR 65,652 without itself dating the figure. FEDIL, Luxembourg's federation of industry employers, states the figure was fixed by the ministerial regulation of 23 February 2026 and has applied since 3 March 2026. Neither page reviewed publishes a reduced threshold for shortage occupations — do not assume a lower figure applies to your case without confirming with the immigration authority.).

Is this page up to date?

The oldest source behind it was checked on 2026-08-03. Every claim links to the official page it came from, with its own check date, so you can verify any of it yourself in one click.

Evidence

Every claim on this page, and where it came from.

7 official pages, each with the jurisdiction it speaks for and the date a human last opened it. The oldest of them is 2026-08-03, and that is the date this page is only as fresh as.

Two minutes, no account

Your qualification, your country, your roadmap.

This page answers the pairing in general. The planner answers it for the country you actually qualified in, and prints the result with its sources attached.

Build my roadmap →How we verify this