German Cabinet approves new rules on migrant reunions

BERLIN – Germany's Cabinet has approved new rules that will allow migrants granted limited protection to apply for family members to join them, more than two years after such reunions were suspended.

Under the rules set to take effect in August, a maximum 1,000 close relatives per month will be allowed in to join migrants granted "subsidiary protection," which falls short of full asylum. Family reunions were a hard-fought issue in negotiations earlier this year to form a new German government.

The government said Wednesday that migrants won't be legally entitled to be joined by close relatives — spouses, children under 18, or the parents of migrants under 18 — and authorities will make case-by-case decisions on humanitarian grounds.

People who married after fleeing their homeland won't be able to seek spouses' admission.