Germany Issues Over 53,000 Family Reunion Visas in First Half of 2026

The German Foreign Office reported that 53,598 visas for family reunification were granted between January and June 2026, despite Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s promise to suspend family migration. The suspension, enacted in July 2025, applies only to relatives of individuals with subsidiary‑protection status and covers roughly 13 % of all family‑reunion cases.

Visas continue to be issued to spouses of German citizens and foreign‑national residents, as well as to partners of skilled workers. Turkey ranked first among source countries with 8,664 visas, followed by Kosovo (6,935) and India (5,293). At the current pace, more than 100,000 non‑EU nationals could enter Germany through family reunification by year‑end, underscoring the political sensitivity of the policy for Merz’s government, which seeks to curb irregular migration while avoiding a total shutdown of the route.