Family reunification
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries because of the presence of one or more family members in a certain country, therefore, enables the rest of the divided family or only specific members of the family to immigrate to that country as well.
Family reunification laws try to balance the right of a family to live together with the country's right to control immigration. However, how this balance looks like, e.g. which members of the family can be reunited, differs largely between countries.
A sub-case of family reunification is marriage migration, where one spouse immigrates to the country of the other spouse. Marriage migration can take place before marriage, in which case it falls under its own special category, or it can take place after marriage, in which case it falls under family reunification laws. Some countries allow family reunification for unmarried partners, provided they can prove an ongoing intimate relationship that also lasted longer than a certain period of time.
In recent years, there have been several cases of minors sent out on hazardous journeys in order to apply for political asylum status which, once granted, would enable the rest of the family to join them. However, in some countries only over 18 years old can apply for family reunification and it is only possible to be reunited with dependant children under 16 or partners, and not for parents or siblings.
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