According to this data, 101,756 visas were approved until the end of last November, and these visas were allocated to citizens of the five countries that top the list of asylum seekers. These visas were distributed as follows: Turks (14,907), Syrians (13,148), Indians (9,286), Kosovars (7,143), and Albanians (4,426).
Visas for reuniting children with their parents accounted for slightly more than a third of the cases, numbering 37,227 visas. In contrast, the German authorities issued about 3,500 visas for reuniting parents with their children during the same period.
The most common type of visa was for spousal reunification, with 44,426 visas issued to foreign spouses residing in Germany, in addition to 16,298 visas to enable individuals to move in with spouses holding German citizenship.
The right to family reunification is mostly limited to what is known as the “nuclear family,” i.e., spouses and minor children, with limited exceptions in special humanitarian cases.
According to a legal amendment approved by the previous German government in March 2024, it became possible to bring parents and in-laws of highly qualified individuals and specialized technical personnel, who are able to support the entire family with their own capabilities.
It is worth mentioning that the current federal government decided last July to suspend family reunification for people with “subsidiary protection” – a category that includes large numbers of Syrians – for two years, with the exception of officially recognized refugees. This category is not allowed to bring spouses or minor children (or parents in the case of unaccompanied minors) except in special humanitarian cases.
