IOM’s Family Assistance Programme (FAP) was launched in March 2016 and is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. The central aim of the programme is to support families in vulnerable situations to reunite with their relatives in Germany.  The programme facilitates access to family reunification, by assisting migrants with the visa application process. With support centres in ten countries, FAP offers both in-person and remote assistance to a high volume of vulnerable migrants by providing them with timely, trusted and accurate information and visa-related support services in their native language. Among others, these services include assistance with visa application form-filling and application completeness checks, facilitation of appointment scheduling, biometrics enrolment, conducting of health assessments, facilitation of DNA testing, escorting of unaccompanied minors and cases with serious medical needs, and delivery of integration classes and distribution of integration handbooks. Since 2016, FAP has assisted over 334,000 beneficiaries.

As the number of Syrians and Iraqis seeking protection shows no signs of abating, in addition to resettlement schemes, states continue to be called upon by the international community to offer additional safe and legal pathways for them to re-build their lives in third countries, including through family  reunification visa schemes. Such schemes offer new beginnings and save lives by providing an alternative to unsafe, irregular and covert journeys, often facilitated by people smugglers. 

In 2016, as a result of the unprecedented number of German family reunification visa applications being submitted to the German Consular Offices in Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq, at the request of and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO), IOM established and operates five Family Assistance Programme (FAP) service centres in the cities of Istanbul and Gaziantep (Turkey), Beirut and Chtoura (Lebanon) and Erbil (Iraq). 

A key component of the FAP is to provide Syrian and Iraqi families with accurate, timely and topical information on the German FR visa process and related matters, including relevant news from Germany, with a focus on integration related services being offered before and after arrival. Information is disseminated in the Arabic and Kurdish language via multiple channels including outreach by phone, helplines, email, website and social media platforms.