Refugee Family Reunification
The International Protection Act 2026 (2026 Act) established new statutory requirements for refugee family reunification. A ‘sponsor’ for the purpose of this application is a convention refugee, programme refugee and recipient of subsidiary protection. There are four categories of sponsors: adult sponsors whose family members are in Ireland, adult sponsors seeking to bring their family members to Ireland, minors and unaccompanied minors. The purpose of this blog post is to give an overview of family reunification provided for in the 2026 Act and to highlight both expansive and restrictive elements.
- Family members already in Ireland
S204 of the 2026 Act allows a sponsor to apply for family reunification with a family member who does not qualify for international protection and who resided in the State (lawfully or unlawfully) at the time of the sponsor’s application for international protection. The application for family reunification must be made within 12 months from the date of grant of refugee status or subsidiary protection.
A family member for the purpose of S204 of the 2026 Act is spouse, civil partner, minor or adult dependent child of the couple. This relationship must have existed before the sponsor arrived in the State. The definition of a family member does not include a de facto partner.
Once the conditions, set out in S204, are met the Minister ‘shall’ give a permission in writing to the person to reside in the State.
2. Application for family members to enter and reside in the State
S205 of the 2026 Act allows a sponsor to apply to bring family members to Ireland to reside. The definition of a family member for the purpose of this S205 application includes two additional family member types: de facto partner and a parent. A “de facto partner” is a person who is unmarried, with whom the sponsor lived in an intimate and committed relationship, who is in a stable and continuing relationship with the sponsor, with whom the sponsor intends to resume the relationship and who is not related to the sponsor within a prohibited degree of relationship such that the person and the sponsor would be prohibited from marrying each other in the State by reason of that relationship. The inclusion of a parent, in the S205 definition of family member, refers to a parent of the sponsor who is dependent on a long term basis on the sponsor, or suffering from a mental or physical disability, to such extent that it is not reasonable for the parent to maintain himself or herself fully.
Once the conditions, set out in S205, are met the Minister ‘may’ give a permission in writing to the person to enter and reside in the State.
a. Waiting period
The S205 application for family reunification may be made after two years from the date the sponsor was granted international protection.
b. Financial thresholds
The 2026 Act introduced ‘minimum level of income’ requirement on a sponsor and the financial thresholds are set out in S.I. No. 253/2026.
Spouse, Civil Partner, De Facto Partner
A sponsor is required to show an annual gross income of at least €30,000 from all sources when making an application for family reunification with a spouse, civil partner, or de facto partner.
Minor Children
A sponsor may make an application for family reunification with an unmarried minor child (under 18 years) or children once the following minimum income thresholds are reached;
1 minor child – €50,000
2 minor children – €60,000
3 minor children – €70,000
4 minor children – €80,000
5 minor children – €93,000
6 minor children – €106,000
7 minor children – €121,000
8+ minor children – €131, 000
Dependent Adults
S205 of the 2026 Act permits family reunification with a sponsor’s dependent adult child and/or the sponsor’s dependent adult parent and in doing so the 2026 Act provides a more expansive approach to family reunification than was previously in place. To qualify the adult child or parent must be dependent on a long term basis or someone who is suffering from a mental or physical disability to such an extent that it is not reasonable for them to maintain themselves fully. The minimum annual income from all sources is as follows;
1 dependent adult – €96,000
2 dependent adults – €130,000
Mixed Applications
Thresholds also vary according to the number of family members that a sponsor is seeking to bring to the State.
Where an application includes more than one category (for example a dependent adult, and a minor child or spouse and a minor child) the sponsor only needs to satisfy the highest applicable income threshold rather than meeting each threshold separately.
c .Burden on the State
S205(3) of the 2026 Act provides for the Minister to investigate and determine the identity of family members, relationship with the sponsor, domestic circumstances and whether the sponsor has sufficient resources not to become an unreasonable burden on the State. The Minister will have regard to whether the sponsor was in receipt of housing support or social assistance. The sponsor must not be in receipt of such support at the time of the application and for two years prior to the application. The Minister may use his discretion to grant the application if this requirement is not met once the sponsor was not in receipt of social welfare or housing assistance for a period that does not exceed 6 months (aggregate) in the 2 years preceding the application.
The prescribed list of housing and social welfare payments set out in S.I. No. 252/2026 and S.I. No. 251/2026 include;
Social welfare assistance
- Jobseeker’s Allowance;
- State pension (non-contributory) and blind pension;
- Guardian’s payment (non-contributory);
- One-parent family payment;
- Carer’s allowance;
- Supplementary welfare allowance;
- Disability allowance.
Housing support
- Any dwelling provided by a housing authority under the Housing acts or by an approved body(excluding affordable housing but including emergency accommodation)
- Housing Assistance Payment (HAP)
- Financial assistance in relation to rental accommodation schemes
- Accommodation and financial assistance for accommodation provided to homeless persons.
PRSI contributions should be up to date (within a 12 week period) but the Minister may grant an application if an agreed repayment arrangement is in place.
3. Minors
S204 of the 2026 Act permits a sponsor to apply for family reunification with their father and mother or other adult (including the sponsor’s adult sibling) responsible for the sponsor if the sponsor was a minor on the date of an application for international protection. As noted above S204 relates to applications for family members already in Ireland and the application must be made within 12 months from the grant of protection.
S205 of the 2026 Act permits a sponsor who is a minor on the date of the application for family reunification to bring their father and mother or other adult (including the sponsor’s adult sibling) responsible for the sponsor to Ireland. This minor sponsor is exempt from the minimum income level requirement. This exemption does not extend to the requirement to show sufficient resources so as not to become an unreasonable burden on the state as it relates to the receipt of housing and social welfare assistance. All other requirements set out in point 2 above apply.
4. Unaccompanied Minors
S206 of the 2026 Act provides the Minister may waive the 2 year waiting period and /or the requirement show sufficient resources so as not to become an unreasonable burden on the state in respect of a sponsor who was an unaccompanied minor on the date of his or her application for international protection. The Minister has “absolute discretion” to consider waiving these conditions. The Minister may waive the conditions if it is “appropriate to do so having regard to the particular circumstances of the sponsor.”
Refusal and Revocation
The Minister has the power to refuse family reunification where where it is considered necessary in the best interest of national security or public policy, where the sponsor’s permission to remain in the State has ceased, where the marriage between the sponsor and the subject of the family reunification application has been entered into for the purpose of that person entering the State, or where there was a misrepresentation or omission of facts, this includes the use of false documents and information.
The Minister is entitled to revoke family reunification if the subject of the family reunification application does not enter and reside in the State by the date specified by the Minister when giving the permission, or when the sponsor’s legal right to live and reside in Ireland is expired, or revoked. If family reunification is tied to a partnership, the permission is revoked as soon as there is legal separation, divorce, or dissolution of the partnership.
Impact
The 2026 Act expands the definition of family member to include a dependent adult which is a welcome change however the financial threshold may prove prohibitive. The requirements imposed on minor sponsors may delay their ability to apply for family reunification or preclude them entirely. At present and in our experience applications take on average 24 months to process.
The CSO reports the gender pay gap is 3.5%, in favour of male employees. The ESRI reports a migrant wage gap exists in Ireland with Non-Irish women experiencing a double earnings penalty: for being female and for being a migrant. The income thresholds will preclude many from applying for their entire family to enter and reside in Ireland. This will perpetuate displacement faced by refugee families and has the potential to marginalise refugees who reside in Ireland. The 2026 Act changes to family reunification have the potential to disproportionately and negatively impact refugee women, children and persons living with disabilities.
