Germany Issues 53,598 Family Reunification Visas in Six Months
Germany issued 53,598 family reunification visas in the first half of 2026, down modestly from previous years but still on track to exceed 100,000 annually despite government pledges to suspend such migration.
The data, as Junge Freiheit reports, reveals a substantial gap between political rhetoric and administrative reality on immigration policy in Germany.
Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), announced in April 2025—before taking office—that he would end irregular migration and suspend family reunification. Markus Söder, Minister President of Bavaria, echoed this commitment shortly afterward on the ARD program Bericht aus Berlin, stating that family reunification would be suspended.
However, the suspension applies only to a narrow category of migrants: those with subsidiary protection status. This group consists of foreigners who have been neither recognized as asylum seekers nor as refugees under the Geneva Convention, but who are permitted to remain in Germany temporarily due to dangers in their countries of origin.
Numbers Show Decline, Not a Halt
The figures demonstrate a modest reduction rather than a complete freeze. In the first half of 2024, the Foreign Ministry issued 63,637 family reunification visas. The number fell to just under 57,000 in the first half of 2025, and now stands at 53,598 for the first half of 2026.
If current trends continue through the second half of the year, total family reunification entries will remain well above 100,000—equivalent to the population of a medium-sized German city such as Kaiserslautern.
Limited Scope of Policy Change
The regulation suspending family reunification for those with subsidiary protection took effect in July 2025 and is currently set to last two years. All other categories of family reunification remain entirely unaffected by the policy.
This means the vast majority of family reunification continues as before, despite high-profile political announcements to the contrary. Both Merz and Söder spoke publicly of suspending family reunification in general terms, yet administrative data shows that such reunification to Germany continues at substantial levels.
The discrepancy highlights the challenges conservative parties face in translating campaign promises on migration control into tangible policy outcomes, particularly when legal frameworks and international obligations limit the scope of administrative action.
With information from Junge Freiheit
