The CJEU rules that unaccompanied minors don't have to be unmarried to be sponsors for their parents in family reunification procedures.
The Court of Justice of the European Union interpreted Article 2(f) and Article 10(3)(a) of the Family Reunification Directive in its decision from 17 November 2022 in the case X v Belgium. An unaccompanied refugee minor residing in a Member State does not have to be unmarried to enjoy the right to family reunification with first-degree relatives in direct ascending line.
The case of X concerned a woman from Palestine whose daughter was deemed unaccompanied when she arrived in Belgium to join her husband while she was still a 15-year-old minor. After the daughter was recognised as refugee, the mother requested family reunification with her daughter.
The CJEU indicated that an ‘unaccompanied minor’ who resides in a Member State does not have to be unmarried to acquire the status of sponsor for the purposes of family reunification with his or her first-degree relatives in the direct ascending line.
For additional and detailed information, please read the judgement of the Court in the case C-230/21