Belgian Constitutional Court · 26 February 2026 · 24/2026
Two families sought to join people with subsidiary protection in Belgium. A July 2025 law had tightened the conditions for family members joining them. The families asked the Constitutional Court to intervene before separation and new evidential requirements caused harm that would be difficult to undo.
Which rules were challenged
The changes included a two-year waiting period in specified cases, new financial and housing conditions, a fee and stricter evidence of family links. The court identified serious questions about the different treatment of families and sent five questions of EU law to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
What the February order did
Belgium’s court suspended the challenged restrictions within the scope specified in its order. It directed that suspension to last until its decision on annulment following the EU court’s answers. That gave families within the order interim protection against those conditions. The court granted no individual visa and did not finally annul the law in this ruling.
Reading an interim judgment
Protection status, which family members are joining and the precise provisions suspended matter. The numbered operative clauses identify the reach of the order more precisely than a general description of Belgium’s family-reunification rules.
