Family Assistance Programme

Since 28 February 2017, IOM manages a Family Assistance Program (FAP) service centre in Erbil, in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, in partnership with the German Consulate General in Erbil, to offer a wide range of support services to both Syrian and Iraqi families applying for a family reunion (FR) visa to a sponsor who has protection status in Germany. IOM and the German Federal Foreign Office have jointly established the FAP to facilitate the orderly and safe reunification of Syrian and Iraqi families in Germany. IOM also operates FAP centres in Turkey (Istanbul) and Lebanon (Beirut), Germany (Berlin), Jordan (Amman), Iran (Tehran), Pakistan (Islamabad), Kenya (Nairobi), Ethiopia (Addis Ababa), Sudan (Khartoum).

FAP contributes to the achievement of the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) objectives 3, 5, 7, 12, 14 and 16. It also closely aligns with target 10.7 of the SDGs to facilitate orderly, safe and responsible migration and mobility. Additionally, it reflects IOM’s Migration Governance Framework, precisely principles 1 and objectives 2 and 3.

The overall objectives of the FAP are:

To dissuade families from seeking unsafe & irregular means to reach Germany.
To protect families from misinformation and exploitation by unscrupulous visa brokers and smugglers.
To empower families with Arabic and Kurdish language information and visa-related support services.
To facilitate more efficient visa processing, thereby reuniting families sooner.
To better prepare families for arrival and integration into German society.

All services provided by FAP are completely free of charge, which are as below:

Visa application form creation, completeness checks
Verification of documents submitted for FR applications.
Appointment scheduling, passport, and file logistics
Facilitation of the family registration of Syrian families for legalization purposes in Lebanon.
Fees collection, exchange, and transfer to the German Missions