Family reunifications

Two sisters separated by loss

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Imagine you are working as a successful highly skilled migrant in the Netherlands. You have found a Dutch partner and you are enjoying life and all the opportunities. This changes dramatically when both your parents pass away quickly after each other. A sibling, who stays behind, wants to live with you in the Netherlands. You apply with substantial documentation at the immigration office for family reunification. It is rejected and, in the meantime, your residency in the Netherlands is in jeopardy because you have spent too much time abroad.  

United by pioneering legal work

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This can be repaired, but it shows the small margins of a foreign national when taking care of a family member abroad, and on the other side that you have to stay in the Netherlands with no interruption of more than six months per year. Julien Luscuere Advocaten assisted in the objection and appeal proceedings. Together with our client, we supplemented the file with a lot of extra evidence about the care tasks. The immigration office was still not convinced. Fortunately, the district court discussed the decision of the immigration office. It confirmed our argument that the family life between the siblings was much more than the immigration office took into consideration. So the court followed our argument that the siblings in the Netherlands would be completely maintained by her younger sibling who has more than enough income. So the reason that the Dutch government could deny family life in the Netherlands based on economic grounds was unsubstantiated.

The court sent the file back to the immigration office for a new review. Since our client could no longer wait until the new decision, we have put the immigration office in default and requested damages if longer had to wait for the next decision. This helped and within two months after the decision of the district court, we received a positive notice. The immigration office granted the application and now the siblings can be reunified in the Netherlands.