Organisations helping foreigners in Luxembourg: ASTI, Passerell, CLAE, emergency help and healthcare

Information checked on 2 November 2026.

In an emergency in Luxembourg, call 112 (fire brigade, ambulance). For a question about residence, visas or family reunification, the leading organisations helping foreigners in Luxembourg are ASTI (its Guichet Info Migrants is free) and, for applicants and beneficiaries of international protection, Passerell (free rights-access desk). For healthcare without cover, Médecins du Monde Luxembourg holds free consultations; for a roof in winter, the Luxembourg Red Cross runs the Wanteraktioun. On the public side, the National Reception Office (ONA) takes care of asylum seekers, and guichet.lu explains every procedure.

Compatri presents these organisations to point you in the right direction. It is linked to none of them and takes no steps on your behalf.

Who does what: the summary table

Residence, visas, family reunification: the organisations helping foreigners in Luxembourg

ASTI and its Guichet Info Migrants

ASTI, a non-profit association based in Luxembourg-Eich, "provides information and administrative help free of charge" on immigration and residence through its Guichet Info Migrants. It deals, for example, with:

• tourist visas;
• family reunification;
• marriages between different nationalities;
• work permits for non-European nationals, and their employers' questions;
• settling in Luxembourg for EU citizens and for third-country nationals already living in another EU country.

The desk sees people by appointment only, requested by e-mail. ASTI also offers a free public letter-writer, run by volunteers, in German, English, Arabic, Farsi, French and Luxembourgish, to help you write a letter, as well as language practice meetings.

CLAE, the platform of immigrant associations

The Comité de liaison des associations d'étrangers (CLAE), founded in 1985, campaigns for residence-based citizenship and an open immigration policy. Its services association, under agreement with the Ministry of Family Affairs, Solidarity, Living Together and Reception and recognised as being of public interest since 2016, offers:

• approved French classes, from beginner to intermediate level, with support from the Ministry of Education. The next session starts in January 2027; registration is by appointment and places are limited;
• support for associations with a migration background: setting up, management, projects, and an intercultural fund. Useful if you run an association of your diaspora;
• the Festival of Migrations, Cultures and Citizenship, whose 44th edition takes place on 20 and 21 March 2027 at Luxexpo.

What about Caritas Luxembourg?

Caritas Luxembourg states on its website that it is being reorganised after the discovery of financial fraud in July 2024. Its priority is to pay its debts; it will only resume its charitable activities once this phase is over. So do not count on it for support today, and check its website before contacting it.

Asylum: applying for international protection in Luxembourg

What guichet.lu says

To register an application for international protection, you must go in person (minors included) to the Directorate General of Immigration of the Ministry of Home Affairs. At registration you are informed about the procedure, your rights and obligations, your right to a free interpreter and your right to legal aid, or to choose at your own expense a lawyer registered with a Luxembourg bar. You then receive a certificate allowing you to stay in the country, and you are called to a personal interview.

Two important points:

• Since 12 June 2026, with the entry into force of the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, the procedural rules depend on the date of the application. A screening step (identity, photo, fingerprints, interview, medical check) applies in particular to people who entered without the mandatory checks.
• Within 8 days of the application, you must make a declaration of arrival at the municipality where you live.

The National Reception Office (ONA)

Once you have lodged your application, the ONA, a public administration, provides reception: housing, social follow-up, educational support and material reception conditions. Unaccompanied minors come under the National Office for Children (ONE). Its contact details and opening hours are on its contact page.

Passerell, to understand your rights

Passerell, recognised as being of public interest since 5 September 2023, runs a free rights-access desk for applicants, beneficiaries and rejected applicants of international protection: reception, information and support to understand and exercise their rights. Access is by appointment; a phone line helps you decide whether an appointment is useful. Passerell also publishes information sheets and runs workshops on the rights of women in exile. It does not replace a lawyer.

HUT, Hëllef um Terrain

The association HUT supports applicants for international protection, refugees and migrants, especially on arrival and during their first years in Luxembourg. It runs housing facilities for applicants, in Foetz and Differdange for example, and offers French practice modules. It also supports homeless people.

Emergency, shelter and health

A roof in winter: the Wanteraktioun

The Luxembourg Red Cross's Emergency Reception and Housing Service (SALU) supports homeless people and people in severe hardship:

• street work in public spaces, with hot drinks and information on available help;
• the Bistrot social "Uewerstadt", a daytime refuge in the Upper Town: meals, emergency clothing, showers, social worker office hours;
• the Wanteraktioun, from 15 November to 15 April: a day centre with hot meals and a night shelter, at Findel, run with Dräieck;
• street care (Streetcare): a nursing team and a social worker who refer people to care facilities.

Healthcare without cover: Médecins du Monde Luxembourg

Present in Luxembourg since 2013, Médecins du Monde offers free medical, psychological and social consultations to people without papers, without an address, without social security or in severe hardship. Its care sessions take place in Luxembourg-Bonnevoie and Esch-sur-Alzette; the secretariat answers by phone to guide you. Hours are on its "Besoin d'aide ?" page.

Work and integration

• The citizens' pact for intercultural living together ("Biergerpakt"): created by the law of 23 August 2023, it is open to any adult who lives or works in Luxembourg. Joining is voluntary, through MyGuichet.lu, and gives access to three introductory modules (daily life, history and institutions, language up to level A1.1 in Luxembourgish, German or French) and to advanced modules.
• The path to work of the Luxembourg Red Cross prepares beneficiaries of international protection for the labour market (NOVA training, skills assessment, career plan).
• CLAE's French classes and the language meetings of ASTI and HUT complete the offer.

Beware of scams

Before you pay anyone, remember this.

- A serious association never promises a residence permit, nor a deadline. Only the administration decides.

- ASTI's Guichet Info Migrants and Passerell's desk are free. Be wary of "consultants" who ask for money to fill in a form.

- A lawyer must be registered with a Luxembourg bar. For asylum, guichet.lu reminds you of your right to legal aid.

- Never hand the original of your passport to an intermediary. Keep a copy of every document you hand over.

Your compatriots in Luxembourg

An association answers a legal question. To find housing, a first job or simply someone who speaks your language, compatriots already settled are invaluable. On Compatri, find the communities in Luxembourg City, those across Luxembourg, or your diaspora, for example Cape Verdeans in Luxembourg. The associations directory also lists diaspora associations, and our article on mutual help between compatriots shows how to ask for and offer help.

Do you live on the other side of the border? See our guides to organisations helping foreigners in Belgium and to emergency help and healthcare without papers in Belgium. Organisations in other countries are gathered in our guide organisations helping foreigners in Europe and the Americas, and the first steps with a long-stay visa in arriving in Europe with a long-stay visa.

Sources

• ASTI: Guichet Info Migrants
• ASTI: public letter-writer
• CLAE: about
• CLAE: French classes
• Passerell: our history
• Passerell
• HUT, Hëllef um Terrain: refugees and migrants
• Caritas Luxembourg
• Luxembourg Red Cross: Emergency Reception and Housing Service
• Luxembourg Red Cross: integration path for beneficiaries of international protection
• Médecins du Monde Luxembourg: need help?
• National Reception Office
• Guichet.lu: application for international protection
• Guichet.lu: citizens' pact for intercultural living together
• CGDIS: in an emergency, call 112