(de-news.net) – The German Bundestag has enacted a legislative measure suspending the right to family reunification for individuals accorded subsidiary protection status for a provisional period of two years, thereby permitting such reunification exclusively under narrowly defined conditions of extraordinary hardship. This statutory amendment was ratified by a substantial parliamentary majority through a roll-call vote, facilitated in part by anticipated support from the AfD, given that the governing coalition alone lacked the numerical strength to secure passage. Previously, a quota system had been in place, allowing for the issuance of 1,000 family reunification visas per month to eligible overseas applicants.

From the perspective of the CDU, the initiative was construed as instrumental in preserving societal cohesion. Its principal objective, as articulated domestic affairs spokesperson Alexander Throm, was to mitigate the burdens borne by municipal infrastructures and to attenuate the pace of refugee admissions. The Federal Minister of the Interior, Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), further underscored the constraints imposed by structural limitations in Germany’s housing, educational, and social welfare systems. In contrast, SPD parliamentarian Rasha Nasr emphasized the necessity of reassessing the measure’s efficacy upon the conclusion of its stipulated term.

Although the AfD endorsed the legislation, it simultaneously posited that the regulatory intervention fell short of achieving substantive reductions in migratory flows. Conversely, the Greens decried the policy as an impediment to integrative processes.

The Left Party expressed unequivocal opposition, contending that it represents a contravention of the internationally recognized right to family life. Particular concern was voiced over the policy’s deleterious implications for unaccompanied minors, a demographic deemed especially vulnerable. The party further warned of the policy’s counterproductive ramifications for social integration and advocated for the acceleration of visa processing as well as statutory harmonization between the legal treatment of subsidiary protection beneficiaries and persons recognized under the Geneva Convention.

According to federal administrative data as of March 2025, approximately 388,000 individuals in the Federal Republic possessed residence permits grounded in subsidiary protection. While such individuals remained, in principle, eligible for family reunification under extant quota provisions, the precise proportion still able to exercise this right remained undetermined. A significant share of that population originated from conflict-affected regions such as Syria, where the prospect of resettlement is either perilous or implausible.

Within the same legislative framework, the Bundestag resolved to reintroduce the concept of immigration “limitation” alongside its previously emphasized “management” function in the Residence Act, signaling a strategic recalibration of migration policy.