A guide for accompanying spouses and partners
It's hard work being the accompanying spouse or partner. Not only is it your job to ensure the relocation runs smoothly, manage the domestic chores or take the kids to school, but you can sometimes feel set adrift if you've given up your job or career and travelled far from your network of family and friends.
The good news is, hundreds of spouses and partners have found their feet in Luxembourg and used the opportunity to branch out into a new career, start their own business, volunteer or even write a book.
The golden rule is to give yourself time, and try to meet others who can support you. Away from home it’s easy to feel alone and isolated, but Luxembourg takes six degrees of separation down to about two degrees, and hopefully our list of places to meet people, find inspiration and get a job or start a business will set you on the right track.
Meet other expats
Luxembourg Meetup
Like hiking, trips to local areas, trying out new restaurants or just want to practise your language skills? Luxembourg Expat Meetup is a good starting point to meet others. It’s free to join and you can receive regular emails matched to your interests.
InterNations
A dedicated resource created to support expats, InterNations provides useful guides on job hunting and languages in addition to a social forum with groups and events you can join. It’s free to join and you can register here.
Eventbrite Luxembourg City
A great website that lists professional, business and entrepreneurial events in addition to creative and social ones including health, sport and family. It also lists free events if you have a tight budget or online ones if you have limited time.
Social media groups
If you’re on Facebook you should consider joining a number of Luxembourg groups that are helpful forums for advice, and information about events, services, items for sale and much more.
Expats de Lux – managed by the InterNations Ambassador for Luxembourg this Facebook group is a good place to find out about groups, events or ask for advice.
Ladies of Luxembourg / Gentlemen of Luxembourg – gender specific forums that provide a supportive and sharing environment to newcomers. Girl Gone International Luxembourg organises online events such as conversation classes or Netflix movie nights, and in person events or meet ups when possible.
Luxembourg Parents – a great group in which you can ask anything about children or parenting (about schools, doctors, creche etc) and someone will give a helpful answer. It also has posts on things to do with the kids and an associated kids’ corner for items for sale.
Pet Owners of Luxembourg - got a question or need advice about your pet, or just want to meet up with another dog owner for a walk, this is the group to join.
Events in Luxembourg publishes all kinds of events, classes and workshops.
Other groups – there are numerous local groups on Facebook that organise outings and coffee mornings in a specific commune or area including My Mamer and My Strassen. These are ideal for making new friends in your local community or asking for advice on local suppliers, services or schools.
LGBTIQ+
There are a number of groups and associations that organise events and meet-ups in Luxembourg and the greater region. You can find out more in our article on Luxembourg Pride and the LGBTIQ+ community here.
Learn the lingo
If you want to learn Luxembourgish, you can find out more here, or try a language cafe to brush up on your French or start practising your Luxembourgish.
English language clubs and societies
British Ladies Club of Luxembourg
It’s not all tea and cucumber sandwiches. The BLC is a club for women who can speak English at any level, regardless of nationality. They organise regular events including activities for children and social gatherings for parents such as baby and toddler groups (where dads are also welcome). Currently they are inviting members and non-members to meet up, so you can decide before you join. Membership subscription details can be found here.
American Women’s Club Luxembourg
A non-profit, volunteer-run club serving women in Luxembourg, it also offers activities for all ages and has its own Clubhouse, which offers social events and language classes.
Other expat associations
In addition, almost every nationality living in Luxembourg is represented at the Bazar International each year, and you can find a list of them here, some including contact emails.
You can also find a long list of special interest clubs from ones based around nationality like the Lux-Latvia Association to ones based on interests such as whisky tasting, netball, choirs or horse-riding, on Anglo-Info, here.
If you’re interested in acting and theatre productions, try here, and if you enjoy photography, you can find workshops here.
Support groups (English language)
Passage
Passage is an English-speaking parent support group and social network for parents and professionals related to the field of health, education and child social development in Luxembourg. It brings together a vibrant community of parents and practitioners to discuss and exchange information on modern-day parenting.
Luxmamas
Luxmamas is a non-profit FB group for mothers in Luxembourg to have discussions, ask for or give support and advice from/to other mothers in relation to pregnancy and baby and mama care.
Kanner Jugend Telefon – Childline in English
Moving location can exacerbate family issues for children and parents with new homes, schools and routines. Luxembourg’s KJT has an anonymous and confidential telephone line in English for children and young people on 116111, and online support for parents.
If you find you need to talk to someone, there are a number of free and anonymous help lines in Luxembourg.
You can more ideas for parent, baby and toddler activities including play groups, here, and ideas or places to discover what's on for kids, here.
Look for a job
Start with this article on looking for a new job which gives advice on registering with ADEM (Agence pour la Développement de l’Emploi), and provides details of job websites in addition to advice on CVs and job applications.
If you need to get your qualifications recognised in Luxembourg so you can practice as a lawyer, doctor, medical specialist or certain other professions, you can find out more here.
Start a business
Hundreds of spouses have started their own businesses in Luxembourg. The Luxembourg government offers a number of free entrepreneur programmes. To find out more about registering a business or to register as self-employed, the guichet.lu site has information and forms here, or read our guide to starting a business.
If you want to know what the tax and social security implications of establishing yourself as a freelance independent, you can find out in this article.
Volunteer
Luxembourg is not short of places to volunteer, from helping the homeless to providing company to the elderly. You can find a list of places that accept volunteers on an adhoc or permanent basis here, together with those that provide training for roles.
More information
Check out the Expat Hub for our guides and articles on living in Luxembourg, from work and property to leisure, travel, dining, education and kids. You'll also find a lot of helpful information on the government website.
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