Family reunification

The protection of family unity is an important human right.

If you were separated from your family before or during your flight, you may apply for them to join you in Liechtenstein, under specific conditions.

Whether your family can join you ultimately depends on the type of legal status you are granted and the nature of your relationship.

Who is eligible for family reunification?

Your core family (i.e. spouse and children under 18 years of age) as well as close relatives to whom you have a maintenance obligation, such as persons living with you in a de facto cohabitation, adopted / foster children or siblings under 18 years of age may join you in Liechtenstein under certain conditions. Whether your family can join you ultimately depends on your legal status in Liechtenstein:

    • If you have been granted asylum, you are entitled to family reunification if your family was separated during flight and wishes to reunite in Liechtenstein.

    • If you have an F permit (provisional admission), you will have to wait for three years from the delivery of your permit before applying for family reunification.* You also have to fulfil certain requirements, including the availability of appropriate accommodation for the family and adequate financial resources.

    • As long as you have not received a decision on your asylum application and still hold an N permit, you cannot bring your family to Liechtenstein.

*The European Court of Human Rights’ judgement of July 2021 in M.A. v. Denmark (application No. 6697/18), where the Court found that the strict and automatic application of a waiting period longer than two years was inc

How to apply for family reunification?

For questions regarding family reunification, please contact the Migration and Passport Office (Ausländer- und Passamt) at:

Please consult family reunification for nationals of a third country for more information.

Who can help you in the family reunification process?

Given the complexity of the legal framework for family reunification, we recommend that you contact a legal counselling organization for advice (see Legal counselling).

Please be informed that UNHCR in Liechtenstein does not offer individual counselling on family reunification.

If you do not know where your family is or you cannot contact them, you can contact the SRC Tracing Service.

If you are a refugee or asylum-seeker in country other than Liechtenstein, aiming to reunite with your family in another country, you can reach out to the UNHCR family reunification focal points in these locations by selecting the country of interest on the UNHCR Help homepage.