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From file: The Isment camp in the Afrin district of Aleppo, where, prior to the earthquake in February, hundreds of Syrians lived in tents and briquette houses in and around an old cement factory | Photo: picture alliance / Esra Hacioglu Karakaya / Anadolu Agency
From file: The Isment camp in the Afrin district of Aleppo, where, prior to the earthquake in February, hundreds of Syrians lived in tents and briquette houses in and around an old cement factory | Photo: picture alliance / Esra Hacioglu Karakaya / Anadolu Agency

No requirement to apply in person for family reunification, EU court rules

Latest update : 2023/04/19
By Marion MacGregor Latest update : 2023/04/19

EU countries are not allowed to insist that applications for family reunification are made in person at a diplomatic post. The European Court of Justice ruling comes after Belgian authorities refused to register an application by a woman and her two young children from war-torn Syria.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided on Tuesday (April 18) that the strict requirement to submit an application for family reunification in person meant that, for some people, family reunification was impossible, and that this undermined the objective of EU law and violated the right to respect for family unity.

The case concerned a Syrian couple with two children, now aged around five and seven. In 2019, the father traveled to Belgium where he was subsequently recognized as a refugee. Last year the mother and children, who remained in the earthquake-affected town of Afrin in northwest Syria, submitted an application via email and a letter to join the father in Belgium, but were told they had to submit the application in person at a Belgian embassy.

The ECJ was asked to decide whether EU countries can legally refuse to register applications that had been submitted by remote means of communication because it was too difficult or dangerous for the family member to travel to a diplomatic post.

Also read: Netherlands ends ban on family reunification

Countries must be flexible

In its judgment the Court confirmed that when family members are in a country where there is armed conflict, there are likely to be significant obstacles to appearing in person at an embassy. This could result in the continuing separation of families and could put the lives of minors in particular at risk.

The Court added that insisting that refugees apply in person can result in the applicants missing deadlines, which goes against the aim of the EU law concerning family unification 'to pay special attention to the situation of refugees.'

Under that law, the requirement to apply for family reunification in person is intended to prevent fraudulent claims. But according to the ECJ, demanding this of people even when it is excessively difficult or impossible is disproportionate to the aim. This requirement to be there in person in order for family ties and identities to be checked could be done at a later stage, the Court said.

Also read: Top EU court overrules German family reunification rule, backs migrant minors' rights

The European Court of Justice makes sure countries abide by EU law. ECJ rulings are binding on national courts and governments. Belgium is also bound by the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that everyone has the right to family life (Article 8).