EU FAMILY VISA

EU countries offer family settlement options which is also called the “Family Reunification”. This allows a non-EU citizen working or holding a residence permit of any member country can sponsor their family to settle with them in that country. Not every one of these countries offers the same type of “Family Reunion Visa”, but overall the process is the same. The processing time, requirements of income, and ample accommodation carries country to country.

In general, a person holding a residence and employment permit, residing in an EU or Schengen country can sponsor their family members (children and spouse) to live with them.

Family reunification in the EU countries follows the Directive and respects the fundamental rights and principles recognized in the European Convention on Human Rights and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

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Which EU Countries offer most family visas?

Though it is difficult to assess which countries remain in top positions to issue the most family-related residence permits, still statistics are issued by the European Union each year. In general. Sweden, Germany, Italy, France, and Belgium issue most of the family visas.

Family Reunification Visas reasons were the most common reason for issuing residence permits in nine Member States. In Belgium, Luxembourg, Greece and Sweden, family-related reasons accounted for more than 40 % of all the permits issued at the national level. 

Germany (188,367), Spain (174,532), Italy (131,275), and France (96,598) were the EU countries with the highest number of first residence permits issued in 2022 for family-related reasons; these four countries accounted for almost two-thirds of all first permits for family-related reasons in the EU (65.9 %).

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Objectives of the EU-Family Reunification

The following are the key objects of the Directive of the European Union’s Family Reunification system:

• This helps promote economic and social cohesion in the EU region
• harmonize the rules for exercising the right to family reunification and facilitate the integration of non-EU nationals in the EU countries
• plays a role in the development of socio-cultural stability

Details of the Family Reunification in the EU Countries

Here, we will discuss the details of the 27 European Countries or 29 Schengen Countries.

Implementation of the EU Family Visa

Family reunification measures should be taken by the obligation to protect the family and respect family life, which is enshrined in numerous instruments of international law. The European Council, at its special meeting in Tampere on 15 and 16 October 1999, recognized the need to harmonize national legislation on the conditions for admission and residence of third-country nationals. In this context, it stated in particular that the European Union should ensure fair treatment of third-country nationals legally residing in the territory of the Member States and that a more vigorous integration policy should be aimed at granting them rights and obligations comparable to those of Union citizens.

Member States should implement this Directive without discrimination based on sex, race, color, ethnic or social origin, genetic characteristics, language, religion or belief, political or other opinion, membership of a national minority, wealth, birth, disability, age, or sexual orientation.

Entry and residence of family members

Once the application for family reunification has been approved, the Member State concerned shall authorize the entry of the family member(s). To this end, the Member State concerned shall grant such persons every facility to obtain the required visas.

The Member State concerned shall issue the family members with a first residence permit valid for at least one year. This residence permit can be extended.

The period of validity of the residence permit issued to the family member(s) may not, in principle, exceed that of the sponsor’s residence permit.

Rights of the Family Members

The family members of the sponsor have the same right to:

• access to general education;
• access to employed or self-employed employment;
• Access to professional advice, training, advanced training, and retraining.

Member States may decide, by national law, the conditions under which family members may pursue employed or self-employed activity. These conditions provide for a maximum period of 12 months during which Member States may carry out a labor market test before allowing family members to take up employment or self-employment.

Member States may restrict access to employment or self-employment for first-degree direct descendants and adult unmarried children.

Independent Residence or Visa Status for Family

Independent residence permit can be allocated to the family members as per the following conditions:

• At the latest after five years of residence and provided that the family member has not been granted a residence permit for reasons other than family reunification, the spouse or non-marital partner and the child who has reached the age of majority have the right to one – if necessary upon application own residence permit, which is independent of that of the sponsor. Member States may limit the issue of the residence permit referred to in the first subparagraph to spouses or non-marital partners in cases where family ties break down.
• In the event of the death of a spouse, divorce, separation and the death of first-degree relatives in the direct ascending or descending line, persons who entered the country for family reunification can be granted their residence permit – if necessary upon application. Member States shall adopt provisions guaranteeing the issuance of an individual residence permit in particularly difficult circumstances.
• Member States may grant their residence permit to adult children and relatives in the direct ascending line to whom Article 4(2) applies.

Rejecting the applications

Member States may reject an application for entry and residence for family reunification or, where appropriate, withdraw or refuse to renew a family member’s residence permit in any of the following cases:

The conditions laid down in this Directive are not or are no longer met.

• If, when renewing the residence permit, the sponsor does not have sufficient income without having to rely on social assistance benefits from the Member State concerned, the Member State shall take into account the contributions of family members to the household income by Article 7(1)(c).
• There are no actual marital or family ties between the sponsor and the family member(s), or they no longer exist.
• The sponsor or non-marital partner is proven to be married to another person or can be proven to have a long-term relationship with another person.

Member States may also reject an application for entry and residence for family reunification and withdraw the family member’s residence permit or refuse to extend it if it is established that

• false or misleading statements have been made, falsified or falsified documents have been used, other forms of deception have been committed, or other unlawful means have been used;
• that the marriage or civil partnership was concluded or the adoption was carried out solely to enable the person concerned to enter or remain in a Member State.

When deciding in these cases, Member States may attach particular importance to the fact that the marriage, civil partnership, or adoption took place after the sponsor was granted a residence permit.

Member States may withdraw or refuse to renew a family member’s residence permit if the sponsor’s stay ends and the family member does not yet have his or her right of residence by Article 15.

Member States may carry out selective checks where there is reasonable suspicion of deception or sham marriage, sham partnership, or sham adoption within the meaning of paragraph 2. Selective checks can also be carried out when extending a family member’s residence permit.

In the event of the rejection of an application, the withdrawal or non-renewal of the residence permit, and the return of the sponsor or his family members, Member States shall take due account of the nature and strength of the family ties of the person concerned and the duration of their stay in the Member State and the existence thereof family, cultural or social ties to their country of origin.

Right of Appeal

Member States shall ensure that the sponsor and/or his family members have access to legal remedies in the event of rejection of the application for family reunification, non-renewal, or withdrawal of the residence permit and repatriation.

The procedures and powers under which the right referred to in paragraph 1 is to be exercised shall be determined by the Member States concerned.

Possibilities for the Refugees

Particular attention should be paid to the situation of refugees because of the reasons that have forced them to flee and prevent them from leading a normal family life. Therefore, more favorable conditions should be provided for the exercise of their right to family reunification.  If a refugee is unable to provide official evidence of his family ties, the Member State shall examine other evidence of the existence of those ties; this evidence will be assessed according to national law. The rejection of an application must not be based solely on the lack of supporting documents.

Family reunification should in any case apply to members of the family such as spouses and minor children. It is for the Member States to decide whether they wish to allow family reunification of relatives in the direct ascending line, adult unmarried children, non-marital partners, or registered civil partnerships, and, in the case of plural marriages, the minor children of the other spouse and the sponsor.

If a Member State authorizes the reunification of such persons, in the case of the Member States which do not recognize the existence of family ties in the cases covered by this provision, this shall be without prejudice to the possibility of granting treatment to those persons about the right to reside in another Member State of family members within the meaning of the relevant Community law.