Can I bring my family to Germany?

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Find out in 5 steps how to bring your family members to Germany. A quick overview:

Check if family reunification is possible for you and your family members.
Check the individual requirements.
Apply for a family reunification visa at the German embassy. Maybe get help.

Click on headlines to open steps

For more information, click on the small numbers.¹

1. Can you bring your family to Germany?

You can generally bring family members to Germany if you have the following status:
- German citizenship (for example, after naturalization)
- EU citizenship
- Niederlassungserlaubnis residence permit²
- Positive asylum decision³
You usually cannot get family reunification with the following status:
- Duldung (tolerated stay permit)
- During the asylum process⁴

2. Check who from your family can come

With family reunification, you can bring the following family members to Germany:⁵
- Spouses⁶
- Children under 18 years old
- Parents of persons under 18 years old⁷
- Other relatives in cases of hardship⁸

3. Check the requirements

There are usually these requirements for family reunification:
- You must have a certain income⁹ and you are not allowed to have any entitlement to money from the Jobcenter (citizen’s allowance/Bürgergeld) or the social welfare office (Sozialhilfe).¹⁰ Use an online citizen’s allowance calculator to check if your income is sufficient.¹¹
- Your apartment must have a certain size.¹²
- Your spouse must have an A1 German certificate.¹³
- You need health insurance for your family. You and your family members must have passports and clear identities.¹⁴
If you have a positive asylum decision, different requirements may apply:
- Recognized refugees or asylum status (if the application is submitted within 3 months of your recognition): You are entitled to facilitated family reunification and do not need income or housing.¹⁵
- Subsidiary protection: You can apply for family reunification without income or housing. But your application may be rejected even if you meet the requirements.¹⁶
- Protection from deportation: You usually need to meet all requirements (including income and housing). Additionally, a humanitarian reason must be present.¹⁷

4. Apply for family reunification

Note: The process is complicated. Get help from a counseling center or ask a lawyer.¹⁸
Book an appointment at the German embassy in the country where your family lives, for a family reunification visa. The application usually has to be submitted abroad.¹⁹ Appointments are hard to get, so book an appointment online early on.
With a positive asylum decision, you must send an additional application to your immigration office, within 3 months after receiving your asylum decision (notice of compliance).²⁰
Collect all necessary documents and check if they are complete. You can see which documents are needed at a minimum here.
After the appointment at the German embassy, your immigration office must give approval.²¹ The whole process often takes many months, sometimes longer than a year.

5. Prepare for your family’s arrival

After the approval, your family members can collect the visa at the embassy and travel to Germany.
In Germany, your family members must register with the immigration office before the expiry of the visa, usually within 3 months to obtain the family reunification residence permit.²²

This page was realized with the support of the Postcode Lottery and lawyer Nora Ebeling (Last updated October 2024).
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Fußnoten

1
Example
2
Exception: With a residence permit under § 22, § 23 paragraphs 1 or 2, § 25 paragraphs 3 or 4a sentence 1, § 25a paragraph 1, or § 25b paragraph 1, family reunification is only possible for international or humanitarian reasons. With a residence permit under § 25 paragraph 4, 4b, and 5, § 25a paragraph 2, § 25b paragraph 4, § 104a paragraph 1 sentence 1, § 104b, and § 104c, family reunification is not possible.
3
Refugee status, asylum status or subsidiary protection (see step 3).
4
Exceptions may apply in the Dublin procedure if other family members are in another EU country.(more information, only in German).
5
EU citizens that are not German and german EU citizens who have made substantial use of their right to free movement, also apply for family reunification for relatives in the sideline (e.g., siblings, uncles, aunts). For more information, contact a counseling center or ask a lawyer.
6
And same-sex life partners (Lebenspartnerschaft)
7
In certain cases, siblings under 18 years old can also come. Certain skilled workers can also bring their parents and parents-in-law to Germany, even if they are over 18. Find more information here.
8
Examples for cases of exceptional hardship: severe illness, special care needs (more information).
9
Rough estimate: The sum of your net income and child benefits should be higher than: €1,500 (1 person), €2,200 (2 persons), €2,600 (3 persons), €3,000 (4 persons), €3,400 (5 persons).
10
This does not apply to family members of German citizens.
11
Enter your income, rent, heating costs, and the number of children in a citizen’s allowance calculator. Select your partner and children as the family members for whom you want family reunification. If the estimated citizen’s allowance is €0, your income is probably sufficient. Possible incomes include work, pension, self-employment, unemployment benefits (only Arbeitslosengeld 1/ALG 1), child benefits, child allowance, parental allowance, BAföG, and vocational training allowance (BAB) and advance maintenance payment (Unterhaltsvorschuss).
12
You usually need to have between 6 and 12 square meters of living space per family member. This does not apply to family members of German citizens and skilled workers.
13
This does not apply to spouses of skilled workers or people with an EU Blue Card. There are more exceptions.
14
Additionally, there must be no entry or residence ban for your family members.
15
Privileged family reunification, see here.
16
Only a certain number of applications for family reunification with people with subsidiary protection are processed each month. It is possible that your application will be rejected if many applications are submitted. There must also be a humanitarian reason (e.g., family unity is only possible in Germany, family has been separated for a long time, minor children, or illness). See here.
17
For example, the family unity is only possible in Germany, family has been separated for a long time, minor children, or illness.
18
If the case is very urgent, for example, because the person to whom the family reunification is to take place will soon become of legal age, it may be possible to apply for urgent legal protection in court. Consult a lawyer about this.
19
Your family usually cannot enter with a Schengen visa (for visit/tourism) to obtain family reunification. If your family entered with a different visa, they can only receive a residence permit for family reunification in exceptional cases (for certain nationalities or if the visa procedure is unreasonable, for example, due to separation from a child). Seek help from a counseling center or consult a law office.
20
You can send this application by fax or via the foreign office web portal. For the facilitated family reunification requirements, the 3-month deadline must be strictly observed. Get advice from a counseling center or a lawyer.
21
You can already ask your immigration office for “pre-approval” before the appointment. However, only some immigration offices provide this. See here (only in German).
22
In some cases, your family members can also apply for family asylum (more information).