Germany has issued significantly more visas for family reunification this year than in 2022. By December 12th there were 124,625 visas, according to a response from the Foreign Office to a parliamentary question from Bundestag member Clara Bünger (Left), which was sent to the German Press Agency is present.
In the entire previous year the number was a good 117,000. The editorial network Germany (RND) first reported on the numbers.
According to the data, the significantly smaller proportion of visas in 2023 went to relatives of recognized refugees (10,570), those entitled to subsidiary protection (12,067) and those entitled to asylum (254). Subsidiary protection is given to those seeking protection who are neither granted asylum nor refugee protection, but who are threatened with the death penalty or torture in their home countries.
In contrast, 101,734 visas were issued under “general family reunification” for relatives of people living in Germany who are not refugees. For example, around 12,500 visas went to family members of people with Turkish citizenship.
Months of waiting for an appointment
Applicants sometimes have to wait months for an appointment to apply for a visa. According to the Federal Foreign Office, for example, the waiting time at the German embassies in Dhaka (Bangladesh), Islamabad (Pakistan) and Lagos (Nigeria) is over a year.
“Many refugee families are separated for years due to blocked escape routes and lengthy asylum procedures. On top of that, unreasonable waiting times for visas are issued,” Bünger told the RND. Far too often this means that children have to grow up for years separated from one parent or without their parents at all. “The human right to family life and the well-being of children are so blatantly violated.”
