Family reunification: what rules apply to those requiring protection and their family members

Who has a right to join family members in Germany?

Whether family members are allowed to join a relative already in Germany depends first and foremost on the latter’s legal status. A person who is entitled to protection - for example whose entitlement to asylum or refugee status has been recognised - can be joined by immediate family members such as their registered partner or minor, unmarried children. 

What application deadlines apply?

Once a person’s protection status has been recognised, they should apply for family reunification within three months. Family reunification is also possible after the three-month period has expired. However, the person with protection status who is already living in Germany will then have to prove that they are actively seeking work and their own place to live.

Who helps with family reunification?

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) provides support with family reunification for people with protection status in Germany via its Family Assistance Programme (FAP), which is funded by the Federal Foreign Office. The IOM runs service centres in nine countries and in Germany to provide advice and check the documents of family members ahead of an appointment at German embassies and consulates abroad.

What is meant by the suspension of the right of family reunification for those with “subsidiary protection” status?

People who are at risk of serious harm in their country of origin but cannot be granted either refugee protection nor an entitlement to asylum are accorded subsidiary protection status. At the end of July 2025, the right of persons with subsidiary protection status to bring family members to join them in Germany was suspended until and including 27 July 2027 to ease the burden on the reception and integration systems in Germany.