Our family reunification team assists our clients with their applications to be reunited with family members in other European Union countries under the Dublin III Regulation. Potential applicants are screened and identified before a presentation of their claim is submitted to the Greek Dublin Unit. Once a case is taken by our team, our mental health and protection teams support the client with gathering of evidence for the family reunification claim, including DNA, medical and psychological documentation, family trees, and family photographs. If an applicant receives a rejection, we submit a re-examination request. In cases where a final rejection is notified, the team often refers and collaborates with legal organisations throughout Europe to assist in the litigation of the case in national court. When a case is accepted, the family reunification team follows up with the progress of the transfer, supports the clients with translators to fill in the travel paperwork, ensures they can access Covid testing and finally accompanies the clients to the airport.
Due to the pandemic, in 2021 many cases that had received authorisation to be transferred in a 6 month period were stuck in Greece due to travel restrictions, and this time period elapsed. In these cases we carried out advocacy at the European and national level to ensure the reunification, worked with press outlets to raise awareness and collaborated with other organizations for litigation.
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