Myria, the Federal Migration Centre, releases the 2024 annual report “Migration in figures and rights” in several thematic notebooks. On 12 September 2024, the third thematic section entitled "Right to family life" was published, highlighting, among other things, the following conclusions:

• Family migration remains an important reason for authorising long-stay visas in 2023. With 18.805 authorisations, this reason represents around 45% of all long-stay visas granted.
   
• The so-called "Afrin" ruling led to significant changes in Belgian administrative practice, allowing various families to submit their visa applications through the use of remote means of communication (e.g. emails) when they had previously been unable to do so due to their inability to access diplomatic posts. Myria recommends, however, that this possibility becomes the principle and not the exception.
   
• Faced with the growing complexity of the matter and the dysfunctions in the procedure, family members need significant support to successfully complete the family reunification application. Myria recommends sufficient funding and organisation of support by professional services for family reunification applications.
   
• Due to the increase in the number of visa applications and the lack of staff in diplomatic posts, the waiting times for obtaining an appointment with some service providers have sometimes exceeded 6 months. Myria continues to recommend regular monitoring of the time it takes to obtain an appointment, transparent communication about these times, and the possibility of scheduling early appointments when the time limit is likely to be exceeded.  

For further information, please read the press release from Myria in French or in Dutch, and the thematic section "Right to family life" in French or in Dutch.