Germany Approves Only Two Hardship Visas Amid Strict Family Reunification Halt

Germany's federal government is rigorously enforcing the suspension of family reunification for migrants, with only two hardship visas approved since the suspension took effect, according to reports published on March 14, 2026, by DIE WELT, Spiegel Online, and stern.de. The figures underscore how strictly the Merz government is applying the new migration rules. Family reunification had been a central pathway for migrants to bring spouses and children to Germany. The near-total absence of approved exemptions signals that the government is treating the suspension as effectively absolute. Alexander Dobrindt of the CSU, who has served as Federal Minister of the Interior in the Merz cabinet since 2025, oversees the implementation of this policy.

The extremely low number of approved hardship visas reflects a policy of strict enforcement rather than case-by-case humanitarian consideration, as reported by all three outlets. Applicants seeking exemptions under the hardship clause face what the reports describe as a rigorous review process that has yielded almost no approvals. The Federal Ministry of the Interior, led by Dobrindt, is the authority responsible for overseeing the suspension and any exemptions granted under it. The reports from DIE WELT, Spiegel Online, and stern.de all converged on the same finding: the suspension is being applied with little flexibility.

Germany has debated family reunification policy for years, particularly in relation to holders of subsidiary protection status, whose right to bring family members was already restricted under earlier legislation. The current suspension represents a further tightening of rules that have been contested in German courts and the Bundestag over successive legislative periods. Alexander Dobrindt has been Federal Minister of the Interior since 2025, when the Merz cabinet took office.

The enforcement approach reflects the broader migration policy direction of the Merz government, which has made stricter border and immigration controls a central plank of its agenda. The suspension of family reunification was among the measures introduced as part of that policy shift. With only two hardship visas granted, the practical effect of the suspension is that nearly all applications for family reunification are being denied. No confirmed information is available from the source articles on the total number of applications submitted since the suspension began, which would allow a fuller picture of the approval rate. The reports from all three outlets were published within hours of each other on March 14, 2026, suggesting coordinated access to the same underlying data.