About This Service
The family unity of a person with international protection is a value protected by Georgian legislation: the Law on Refugees regulates the procedure of family reunification separately, and that procedure binds the administration. This page explains the principle of family unity and the extension of status flowing from it (Article 11), as well as the reunification procedure — from the application to the decision (Article 46). The two norms together build the full story: the first sets the goal — family unity — and the second governs the road toward it; they must therefore be read together, not separately. Reunification is also a fully-fledged legal category in Georgian legislation: each of its stages — application, evidence, examination, decision — proceeds in a prescribed form, and a breach of that form itself becomes a procedural dispute.
The Principle of Family Unity
Article 11 provides that the Ministry must ensure the family unity of a person with international protection, and every family member has the right to have the application for international protection examined individually. The rule of extending status proceeds from the same principle: where a person has been granted the status of a refugee, or of a person under humanitarian or temporary protection, or a humanitarian status has been extended or a temporary protection term prolonged, the family member living together with that person — as well as a minor whose legal representative, guardian, custodian or supporter is that person — is granted the same status, or has it extended or prolonged accordingly. The exception operates only where grounds for refusal provided by law exist — which means the norm works by presumption: a family member receives status by virtue of being a family member, and the state needs a legally substantiated reason to refuse, not a general administrative view. The right to individual examination belongs to the same logic: each member's application is considered separately, excluding a blanket resolution of the others' fate on one member's file.
The Reunification Procedure
Under Article 46, to start the procedure the person with international protection must apply to the Ministry with a written application and attach all possible evidence confirming the family relationship. For a minor left without a legal representative, after the grant of status the authorized official must, with the consent of the guardian or custodian and of the minor, immediately start the reunification procedure and, taking into account the best interests of the child, ensure reunification with other family members. To establish the family relationship, the application is examined on an individual basis within 1 month; the search for family members may be conducted through the International Committee of the Red Cross; where the relationship is established, an application is made to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the search for members and the issuance of a Georgian visa. The same form of protection is granted to family members; refusal is possible only on the circumstances provided by law. The practical conclusion is simple: in a reunification case two things are decisive — the correctness of the application and the completeness of the evidence. The law demands „all possible evidence", and hidden in that wording is the practical advice: documents unavailable today are harder to gather შემდგომ, so the file is assembled gradually and without delay. For a minor the law adds extra care: the procedure starts immediately, consent is required both from the guardian or custodian and from the child, and the best interest is the supreme measure of the decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who receives status through reunification?
The family member living together with the status holder and a minor whose representative-supporter is that person — with the same form of protection (Article 11). Reunification thus produces a complete legal result: the family member receives the very same protection, not a reduced variant of it.
Where does the procedure begin?
With a written application to the Ministry, accompanied by all possible evidence confirming the family relationship (Article 46).
Within what period is the application examined?
For establishing the family relationship — on an individual basis within 1 month (Article 46).
How are family members searched for?
Where necessary — through the International Committee of the Red Cross, and once the relationship is established the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is addressed on visas (Article 46).
Why does individual examination matter?
Because each member's application is considered separately — the fate of the others is not decided automatically on one member's file, and each holds a procedural position of their own (Article 11).
How We Help on Legal.ge
We will prepare the reunification application and the system of evidence of kinship; explain the stages and deadlines of the procedure and protect the child's interests in the reunification of a minor. Contact us — a family should be together, and the road to reunification is walked step by step: from the application to the evidence, and from the evidence to the decision.