Two members of the RLS Family Reunion From Europe (FRFE) team, Efi Stathopoulou and Harry Harris, wrote an article on the post-Brexit landscape as regards family reunification to the UK in collaboration with Safe Passage.
Efi Stathopoulou is the coordinator of the FRFE project and Harry Harris is its casework supervisor. The article “Family Reunification to the UK from Europe: the post-Brexit landscape” was published by the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association here (subscribers only), and an excerpt can be found below:
“Life after Dublin III and what has been lost
The Dublin III Regulation makes up a system whereby the signatory states determine which is responsible for the examination of a person’s claim for international protection within the EU.
Though not a family reunion framework by definition, the Dublin III Regulation offered family reunion options to a wide range of applicants, with family unity and best interests of the child being central across its provisions and preamble. The procedure was state-to-state, and a significant proportion of applications were made without the applicant being legally represented or having to take any steps aside from providing evidence of the family relationship. The evidential criteria under the Dublin system were more flexible than those in the UK Immigration Rules and no strict maintenance and accommodation requirements were included. All applications were free and did not involve filling out forms as the onus of the completion of the relevant application proforma lay with the respective National Dublin Units (the equivalent of the European Intake Unit) through DubliNet.
Who is now left out?
Many people have no route in the UK Immigration Rules. For example:
- Asylum seekers cannot sponsor their family members until they are granted protection status, even though it is well documented that there are severe delays in asylum processing and decisions can take years; and
- Children cannot sponsor their parents or any other relatives.”
