Austria prepares to resume refugee family reunification under quotas

Austria is preparing to resume family reunification for recognized refugees under a quota system, with 21 places allocated to Salzburg, ORF reported, citing the Austria Press Agency and a draft from the Interior Ministry.

The draft provides for just over 300 residence permits for family members of recognized refugees and people with subsidiary protection in each of 2026 and 2027. Vienna has the largest allocation, with 74 places this year. The proposed number for Salzburg is 21.

The government suspended family reunification in March 2025, saying social and education systems were overburdened. The measure expired in the middle of this year, but the quota needed to regulate the process had not yet been set. The draft regulation now provides a basis for allocating places, and the states have four weeks to comment.

The overall quota for residence permits under the settlement regulation is 5,860 in each of the two years, slightly above the 2025 limit. The regulation governs people who do not have refugee status and are not covered by EU or European Economic Area rules. Family members of refugees and people with subsidiary protection are newly included in the quota.

This year, 314 places are planned for the two protection groups, compared with 650 in Upper Austria alone for family members of other non-EU nationals. More than 4,800 family members of foreign workers are permitted to come to Austria this year.

Among the states, Vienna has 74 of the places for family members of recognized refugees this year. The allocations are 20 for Upper Austria, 21 for Salzburg, 22 for Vorarlberg, 23 for Styria, 37 for Lower Austria and 41 for Burgenland. Across all groups covered by the regulation, Burgenland has 97 places and Lower Austria 310, while Vienna has 2,939.

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said the low quota would protect key public services and help combat youth crime. State Secretary Jörg Leichtfried said the cap brought security, order and humanity together, while NEOS migration spokesperson Sophie Wotschke said migration should be limited to levels at which integration can succeed. The Freedom Party called the quota insufficient, with its security spokesperson Gernot Darmann saying that even reduced immigration was still too high. Chancellor Christian Stocker defended the quota as part of the government’s migration policy.