Federal Council wants clarifications on facilitated family reunification

According to the government's statement, equal treatment in family reunification from third countries has always been the Federal Council's goal. Keystone / Z1022/_patrick Pleul

Swiss Parliament wants to make it easier for Swiss citizens to join their families from third countries, so that they are no longer at a disadvantage compared to citizens of European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member states. The Federal Council wants to accept the bill, but demands clarifications, as it wrote on Wednesday.

The bill was drafted by the House of Representatives State Policy Committee (SPK-N). It was initiated by parliamentarian, Angelo Barrile. The Federal Council proposes that the parliamentary bill be accepted. On Wednesday, it adopted its statement on the matter.

The SPK-N wants to amend the legislation so that Swiss citizens are treated equally to citizens of EU and EFTA states. This means that foreign family members of Swiss citizens from third countries no longer have to have a permanent residence permit from an EU or EFTA member state in order to join them.

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A prerequisite for reunification should be that the reunified persons are granted maintenance. As provided for in the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, they must also have a flat that meets their needs. The requirement is based on a ruling by the Federal Supreme Court in 2009.

According to the government’s statement, equal treatment in family reunification from third countries has always been the Federal Council’s goal. Fundamental decisions of the European Court of Justice and the Federal Court on the free movement of persons had led to unequal treatment.

However, the government demands that it be clarified whether the facilitation is compatible with the constitutional article for limiting immigration. And the figures of the cantonal authorities responsible for family reunification should be used to make transparent how many applications from Swiss nationals for family reunification have been rejected.

The SPK-N proposal met with broad approval among the parties. Only the Swiss Peoples Party rejected it in the consultation.

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