In April 2025, the National Council decided that family reunification of family members entitled to asylum could be temporarily suspended. The prerequisite for this was that the federal government, in agreement with the Main Committee, determines that the maintenance of public order and the protection of internal security were endangered.
On 1 July 2025, the Main Committee of the National Council approved the regulation, which stipulates that the deadline for processing applications for family reunification or the obligation to decide on them for beneficiaries of international protection will be suspended for the next 6 months. According to the Asylum Act, the scheme can be extended by up to 6 months for a maximum of three times.
The government must provide reasons in writing to the Main Committee regarding the threat to the maintenance of law and order and the protection of internal security as identified in the regulation. To this end, a 49-page analysis was presented with an overview of the asylum and migration situation in Austria, divided into sections on the education system, crime and self-preservation in relation to possible governance measures. The analysis states that the Austrian asylum system would need immediate relief, which could most effectively and quickly be achieved by restricting family reunification.