Germany issued more than 53,000 visas for family reunification during the first half of 2026, according to figures from the Foreign Office, despite the government’s pledge to suspend a major route for family migration.
The figures, reported by the journalist Björn Harms and picked up by other media suggest that more than 100,000 people could enter Germany through family reunification over the course of the year if the current pace continues.
The numbers come a year after the Bundestag approved a two-year suspension of family reunification for people with subsidiary protection status. The measure entered into force on July 24, 2025 and is due to remain in place until July 23, 2027, although exceptional hardship cases remain possible.
The suspension, however, applies only to people with subsidiary protection and does not cover family reunification more broadly.
The latest figures therefore do not mean that the government’s specific suspension has been ignored or circumvented. Instead, they highlight the much wider scale of family reunification through other legal routes.
A government response cited by German media showed that 177,382 decisions on national visas for family reunification were made between the beginning of 2025 and 23 April 2026.
Only around 13 per cent (23,273 cases) involved relatives of refugees, asylum seekers or people with subsidiary protection.
The largest categories involved spouses joining German citizens or foreign nationals living in Germany, including skilled workers.
The government has defended the suspension for subsidiary-protection beneficiaries as a measure intended to ease pressure on Germany’s reception and integration systems. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said during the Bundestag debate that Germany’s integration, education, childcare and housing systems had reached their limits. The law was passed with massive support, by 444 votes to 133.
Political figures around Merz, including Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder, had triumphantly declared that family reunification was suspended at the time, but this turns out to be an overstatement.
In 2024, Germany issued 123,675 visas for family reunification involving third-country nationals, according to the federal government. By August 13, 2025, a further 73,000 visas had already been issued.
The issue is likely to remain politically sensitive for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government, which has promised a more restrictive migration policy while continuing to operate within Germany’s existing legal framework governing family unity and residence rights.
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