New Quota Set

Austria Drastically Restricts Family Reunification

Austria has set new quotas for family reunification for this year and next year.(Bild: P. Huber)

The government is maintaining its restrictive stance on family reunification. In both 2026 and 2027, only 314 people will be allowed to enter Austria. How this number was arrived at and how it is justified.

Two years ago, 9,254 people were still allowed to come to Austria under the family reunification program; this year and next year, that number will be reduced to just 314. This is stipulated by two new regulations from the Ministry of the Interior, which will be sent out for review on Friday. This figure does not include the 60 “cases of extreme hardship” that were already granted family reunification this year.

The government is thus sticking to its restrictive course. Austria had imposed a ban on family reunification in March 2025. However, the corresponding regulation expired in the summer —a legally untenable situation. The two new regulations are now intended to provide clarity.

Austria has set new quotas for family reunification for this year and next year.(Bild: P. Huber)

The influx posed significant problems for many municipalities, particularly Vienna. The education sector was especially affected. In the 2023–2024 school year alone, Vienna saw an influx of approximately 3,200 foreign students. New children had to be admitted, enrolled, and placed in appropriate classes during the current school year. This required not only additional seats but also staff, language support, and an assessment of their previous school experience.

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner wants to “protect Austrians from further strain”(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Family reunification has been one of the most sensitive domestic political issues for years. At its peak in 2023, 14,031 people applied to enter Austria, and 10,624 were actually granted permission. It is unclear how many actually took advantage of the offer. Not everyone who received permission to enter the country actually does so.

The City of Vienna reports a particularly high proportion of students with special needs in the first grade of elementary school for the 2024–25 school year: 44.6 percent. This classification is based on insufficient German language skills, not on nationality or the route of entry. It therefore reflects the need for language support, but not the isolated effect of family reunification.

As a result of the ongoing debate, a moratorium on asylum was imposed; it is now being converted into an admission cap. The consequence: From January to September 2024, 6,000 people came to Austria under family reunification; in 2026, the figure will be the aforementioned 314 people. According to the Ministry of the Interior, this number was not chosen arbitrarily. It was determined based on the volume of applications and an assessment of the situation, which took into account the impact of family reunification on educational institutions, social services, and the labor market. 

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) aims, through this “low quota,” above all to “protect important systems—such as the education sector—from further strain” while simultaneously implementing measures to “combat juvenile crime.”

“Austria has been and remains a country willing to help,” says SPÖ State Secretary Jörg Leichtfried. “By agreeing on a quota for family reunification, we are demonstrating that security, order, and humanity go hand in hand here.” NEOS asylum spokesperson Sophie Wotschke: “Migration can only take place to the extent that integration actually succeeds. We see this particularly clearly in Vienna’s schools, which are reaching their limits in many places.”