Migration: Swiss government wants to shorten reunification period for families

The three-year general waiting period for family reunification of temporarily admitted people is to be reduced to two years. Keystone/Ennio Leanza

Family members of people temporarily admitted to Switzerland should in future be able to join them after two years instead of three. The proposed amendment to the law is the government’s response to a judgement by the European Court of Human Rights.

In 2021 the Strasbourg court concluded that the automatic application of a waiting period of more than two years was incompatible with the right to family life under the European Convention on Human Rights. The Federal Administrative Court subsequently amended its case law.

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The government now wants to amend the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act (FNIA). It opened the consultation process on Wednesday. The three-year general waiting period for family reunification of temporarily admitted people is to be reduced to two years.

Since the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) has had to check whether the conditions for family reunification are met after a waiting period of just two years. The government now wants to create legal certainty and implement this change in practice at the legislative level, it wrote.

In special cases, such as when children are in particularly precarious circumstances, family reunification should also be able to be authorised beforehand, according to the draft. The consultation will last until August 22, 2024.

‘Could promote integration’

According to the government, an average of 333 people with temporary admission applied for family reunification per year between 2018 and 2022, with around 126 people having their applications approved. The new regulation is therefore expected to temporarily result in around 126 additional family reunifications due to the shorter waiting period.

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Overall, however, there should not be an increase in family reunification, as the requirements for family reunification, such as economic independence, remain in place, according to the explanatory report on the consultation process.

“At the same time, shortening the time limit could promote integration and the motivation to take up gainful employment overall,” it said.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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