Familienzusammenführung soll künftig ein Jahr früher möglich sein
Published: Wednesday, May 1st 2024, 11:20
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In future, family members of persons temporarily admitted to Switzerland should be able to join them after two years instead of three. The proposed amendment to the law is the Federal Council's response to a ruling by the Human Rights Court.
In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) came to the conclusion 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 (ECHR). The Federal Administrative Court subsequently adapted its case law.
Now the Federal Council 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 for temporarily admitted persons is to be reduced to two years.
Since the ECtHR ruling, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) must check whether the requirements for family reunification are met after a waiting period of two years. The Federal Council now wants to create legal certainty and implement this change in practice at the legislative level, as it wrote.
In special cases, such as when children are in particularly precarious circumstances, family reunification should also be able to be approved in advance, according to the draft. The consultation period will last until August 22, 2024.
According to the federal government, an average of 333 people with temporary admission applied for family reunification each year between 2018 and 2022, and around 126 of these applications were approved. With the new regulation, around 126 additional family reunifications can therefore be expected temporarily due to the shorter waiting period.
Overall, however, there should be no increase in family reunification, as the prerequisites for family reunification, such as economic independence, remain in place, as stated in the explanatory report on the consultation. "At the same time, the shortening of the time limit could promote integration and the motivation to take up gainful employment overall."
©Keystone/SDA
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