Some countries allow family reunification for unmarried partners if they can prove an ongoing intimate relationship that also lasted longer than a certain period of time.
In recent years, several minors went on hazardous journeys to apply for political asylum status and enable their families to join them.
Where a law case would take years and thousands of euros, the EU-rules of free movement give right to family life immediately without costs more than that of an identity card.
[3] A so-called Chavez residence permit is based on the Chavez-Vilchez ruling of the European Court of Justice.
These rules were challenged in the courts, and in 2017 the Supreme Court found that while "the minimum income threshold is accepted in principle" they decided that the rules and guidance were defective and unlawful until amended to give more weight to the interests of the children involved, and that sources of funding other than the British spouse's income should be considered.
[8] The leader of a Somali community organization in Norway and the Norwegian Medical Association protested the tests and wished they would be discontinued.
[8] In 2010, UDI started DNA-tests on Somali childless couples who applied for family reunification where one spouse already resided in Norway.
[9] According to a 2017 study by Statistics Norway immigrants arriving via family reunification are overrepresented as perpetrators of crime, with 66,9 per 1000 versus 44,9 per 1000 for the non-immigrant population.
[10] Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and associated Regulations, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada aged at least 18 is allowed, subject to certain conditions, to sponsor specific members of their immediate family for permanent residence in Canada.
[12] Since 2016, advocates of more restrictive immigration laws have often criticized family reunification as Chain migration, scholars typically use that term for the broader process by which people from particular towns or regions follow each other to new cities and occupations.
"[19] FAIR also argues that "illegal aliens given amnesty by Congress in 1986 are now fueling naturalization in record numbers.
Relatives of new citizens usually do not immediately qualify for immigration to the United States, where strict restrictions on the numbers of reunification visas make the average wait time 18 to 23 years.
Melania Trump sponsored her Slovenian parents for permanent residence in the United States, which let them become naturalized citizens in August 2018.