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Immigrant Survey

FAMILY REUNION

Questions in this section

• What’s your marital status

• What’s the nationality of your spouse?

• Since you moved here, have you ever had a partner or child living outside the country?

• Have you ever applied for family reunion?

• When did you apply?

• What happened to your application?

• What problems did you have applying?

• How has reuniting with your family helped you personally?

• Would you like to apply for family reunion? Why not?

• How might reuniting with your family help you personally?

FAMILY REUNION HIGHLIGHTS

HAVE YOU REUNITED WITH YOUR PARTNER?

Today, most first-generation immigrants surveyed in the 15 cities do not currently need to reunite with a partner or children.

Only limited numbers of

first-generation immigrants

were ever separated

from a partner or children

HAVE YOU REUNITED WITH YOUR CHILDREN?

The vast majority are either single, have always lived with their partner or children, or were the ones that reunited.

Whether these people will need family reunion in the future will depend on how their lives and families change over time.

Only a limited number of people who immigrated from outside the EU were or are separated from their families.

The majority of separated

families have already

reunited in most surveyed

countries.

WHY DO YOU NOT WANT TO REUNITE WITH YOUR

PARTNER OR CHILDREN?

Most immigrants surveyed have their own reasons for not reuniting their family; several did not know or cited a specific reason.

Two major personal reasons were that some immigrants do not want to settle in the country or their family does not want to move.

These family reasons were regularly given in Budapest and cities in Italy, Portugal, and, to a lesser extent, Belgium and Spain.

But two other major reasons were related to policy. Many separated immigrants do not know if they meet the family reunion requirements, particularly in cities in Belgium, Italy, and Portugal.

Others say that they cannot meet the requirements, again in these cities as well as the two Spanish cities.

Most separated immigrants today do not want to apply for their family, some because of family choices but others because of policy obstacles.

WHAT PROBLEMS DID YOU HAVE REUNITING WITH YOUR FAMILY?

Around half the immigrants who did apply for family reunion also cited problems with the family reunion procedure, specifically the requirements, documents, or discretion of the authorities.

Former applicants said that authorities had too much power to ‘do whatever they wanted’ during the procedure, particularly in French cities (38%), Italian cities (34%) and Portuguese cities (28%).

The documentation required was another important obstacle for family reunion in specific countries such as Belgium (24%) and Germany (50%). Applicants in German and Italian cities had the most problems, while applicants in Spanish cities reported the fewest.

Documents and powers of authorities cited as major problems for

applicants in certain countries.

 
HOW HAS FAMILY REUNION HELPED YOU?

Successful sponsors perceived several positive effects of family reunion on their family life and social integration.

Nearly all enjoyed a much easier family life thanks to family reunion. Most felt more settled in the country.

Family reunion helps immigrants improve family life, sense of belonging and sometimes other integration outcomes.