DAccording to a report, family reunification of foreigners with relatives living in Germany reached a peak in 2023. As the newspaper “Welt” reported on Friday, citing the Foreign Office, around 130,000 visas for family reunification were issued last year. Most of them went to Syrian, Turkish and Indian nationals.
More corresponding visas have not been issued in one year since the visa statistics were established in 1996. In the first few years, between 40,000 and 85,000 visas were issued per year. In 2016, the hundred thousand mark was exceeded for the first time and in 2017 the provisional high of 117,000 was reached, which was now exceeded last year.
According to the Foreign Office, of the 130,000 visas issued, around 47,000 related to family reunification of underage children with their parents. Around 5,700 involved the reunification of parents with their minor children and 58,000 involved the reunification of spouses of foreigners living in Germany.
According to the report, a further 18,000 visas were issued to spouses of German citizens. Only foreigners who do not come from the EU or another visa-exempt country are included in the visa statistics.