Background: Family reunification to be suspended starting in 2025
In late July 2025, the federal government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) decided to suspend family reunification for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection for an initial period of two years—until July 2027. During this time, visas for spouses, minor children, or parents will generally not be issued, even if all other requirements are met.
Exceptions are granted only in cases of hardship. They allow family members to enter the country when there are urgent humanitarian reasons.
The federal government cited the goal of easing the burden on government agencies and local authorities as the reason for the suspension. Although the SPD voted in favor of the bill, it emphasized that it had not been the party’s own proposal.
Important: The rules on family reunification apply exclusively to people with subsidiary protection. Recognized refugees, persons entitled to asylum, and holders of a Settlement permit. Family reunification remains possible for these groups.
Few visas despite hundreds of reviewed cases
New figures now show that, since the suspension of family reunification, only two visas have been issued under the hardship provision. This is according to a response from the federal government to a question posed by the Left Party.
According to the Federal Foreign Office, a total of 392 hardship cases were reviewed, involving families comprising a total of 1,325 people. In most cases, the authorities concluded that the circumstances did not constitute sufficient grounds for hardship.
In only two cases was exceptional hardship recognized and a visa granted. No further positive decisions have been made since December 2025.
Clara Bünger, the spokesperson for refugee policy for The Left, has strongly criticized the figures. Speaking to various media outlets, she said the results were “worse than feared.” She described the current practice as “humanity in the per mille range.”
By way of comparison: In the first seven months of 2025—that is, before the new law took effect—approximately 7,300 family reunification visas were still issued. Between August and December 2025, about 150 additional visas were issued. However, these were not granted under the hardship provision; they were visas that had already been approved before the new law took effect.
Family Reunification Under Subsidiary Protection – What Constitutes a Hardship Case?
In principle, individuals with subsidiary protection still have the option of bringing their family members to Germany in particularly urgent humanitarian cases. The legal basis for this is Section 22, sentence 1, of the Residence Act.
For such a hardship case to be recognized, very strict requirements must be met. The personal humanitarian grounds must be sufficiently compelling to outweigh the legal provisions governing the suspension of family reunification.
Possible reasons might include, for example:
- Dangerous or unreasonable conditions in the country of origin: If it is de facto impossible to establish the family unit in the country of origin (e.g. due to persecution or lack of security).
- Special humanitarian circumstances: The family member abroad is in urgent need of support due to illness, need of care or other circumstances, which can only be provided in Germany.
- An extraordinary individual case that stands out clearly from others.
In addition, the family member in question must be residing abroad and must not have any other right to enter Germany. Each hardship visa is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. There is no legal entitlement to such a visa.
Hardship cases are reviewed very strictly by government agencies
Although the law provides for family reunification in cases of hardship, an internal directive from the Federal Foreign Office shows how strictly the authorities apply the requirements in practice.
For example, a long-term separation is considered a hardship case only if the family has been separated for at least ten years. For children under the age of three, the threshold is five years.
Even families residing in a third country where living together would theoretically be possible are generally not covered by the hardship provision.
Unaccompanied children abroad whose parents (or one parent) live in Germany do not automatically meet the requirements either. Additional factors, such as the length of separation or immediate threats, must be present for a hardship case to be recognized.
In addition, an application for family reunification may be denied if the person living in Germany has held a residence permit for more than five years and meets the requirements for a settlement permit. In such cases, the authorities assume that the failure to achieve family reunification is partly the applicant’s own fault.
