Author
Although the law allows family members to be granted lesser rights than the sponsor,[1] in practice this was rarely, if ever, applied, which may be due to the extremely low number of family reunification requests. Family members were issued the same residence permit as the sponsor, which establishes their status as refugees, so that they enjoy the same rights. In 2019, the CRMD ceased issuing residence permits for family members, including family members that arrived via family reunification procedures. In 2022 the CRMD resumed issuing residence permits for family members that arrived under the family reunification procedure, the status is not the same as the sponsor but is referred to as ‘refugee/SP spouse’ or ‘refugee/SP child’. Family members under this status enjoy the same rights as the sponsor with the exception of a travel document, Furthermore, according to a practice implemented in 2022, family members may request examination of their protection needs by the Asylum Service and in two cases it was reported that the Asylum Service proceeded to issue a decision acknowledging that they have the same protection needs as the sponsor and therefore granting them status and rights. However, it is not clear if all cases receive information and access to this procedure.
[1] Article 25(14) Refugee Law.