"No basis"

Stopping family reunification? Why this will be difficult

The ÖVP wants to stop family reunification.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA, AFP/DPA)

Curbing illegal migration is one of the ÖVP's priorities in the government program. Chancellor Christian Stocker emphasized this in the first three-way interview after the inauguration. He brushed aside legal doubts about the planned stop to family reunification and invoked the EU's emergency clause. However, the matter is not that simple.

Recognized refugees and persons entitled to subsidiary protection have the right to bring direct family members to Austria. To do so, they must submit an entry application to the Austrian embassy in the respective country. This cannot simply be legally suspended. The ÖVP wants to implement the stop via a quota regulation.

"The first quota is zero"
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner will inform EU Commissioner Magnus Brunner about Austria's plan to suspend family reunification at the Council of EU Interior Ministers in Brussels. Karner will also submit a letter to the Commission, the ministry announced on Tuesday. "We have announced that we will introduce a quota for family reunification. The first quota is zero. We are now implementing this consistently," said Karner.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

The detailed regulations are still being drawn up. The ÖVP justifies its efforts with the fact that Austria was massively affected by family reunification in 2023 and 2024 with around 10,000 and almost 8,000 approved applications respectively. A large proportion of these were children who put a strain on the education system - especially in Vienna. Applications for family reunification were significantly reduced this year due to the suspension of all asylum applications from Syrians. In January, there were only 238 applications. The aim is to further reduce this with a zero quota.

Family reunification

• Spouses or registered partners of recognized asylum seekers or beneficiaries of subsidiary protection as well as their minor children can benefit from family reunification. The same applies to parents of a child who has come to Austria.
• In principle, an application can be made immediately after the asylum title has been issued to the relative.
• If it is submitted within the first three months, no special financial requirements need to be met. If the application is submitted later, proof of adequate accommodation, health insurance and sufficient income (currently around 1900 euros for couples) must be provided.
• In any case, the family member must contact the Austrian representative authority in the country in which they are staying and apply for a visa.
• If this is approved because it can be assumed that it will be granted, the person can enter Austria for four months and submit their application for international protection here.

Asylum expert Lukas Gahleitner-Gertz believes that suspending family reunification is not legally feasible. "I see no legal basis for a corresponding regulation." The emergency paragraph provides for the suspension of asylum applications in the event of a national overload of the system. However, this refers to procedures within Germany. "This means that there is no legal basis in the Asylum Act for applications for entry in the context of family reunification, on the basis of which the Minister of the Interior could issue an ordinance," says Gahleitner-Gertz in an interview with the "Krone". The authority responsible for the procedure is the embassy. And the embassy then sends the application to the authorities in Austria.

"Not wanting to is not a basis for a state of emergency"
Gahleitner-Gertz points out that the burden of family reunification is primarily a problem in Vienna, but that it is the ÖVP that is preventing a residence requirement. "This is politically legitimate, but you can't declare a state of emergency just because you don't want to take some other measure. A state of emergency is always an inability. Not wanting to is not a basis for a state of emergency."