North Macedonia family reunification visa and residence

The sponsor (pokrovitel) is a foreigner living lawfully in North Macedonia who requests reunification. Under article 107 of the Law on Foreigners, the right belongs to a foreigner with permanent residence, or with temporary residence approved for a period of one year for employment, as a posted worker, for scientific research, for volunteering or on the basis of origin from North Macedonia. Holders of residence for studies, seasonal work, medical treatment or property ownership are not on this list.

Close family members are the sponsor’s spouse, the minor children of the couple including adopted children, and minor children of the sponsor or of the spouse who are in their custody and dependent on them. Minors must be under 18 and unmarried. By exception the law also treats as close family the dependent parents of the sponsor or spouse who lack family support at home, adult unmarried children who cannot support themselves because of their health, and parents of a minor child when the child’s best interests require it.

Besides the general conditions, the sponsor proves his or her own approved residence, the family ties, stable and regular resources sufficient for the sponsor and the family members who will live in North Macedonia, accommodation for the family, personal health insurance and insurance for the family members, and provides certified copies of their passports. No minimum income figure is published on the services portal.

Where parental rights over a child are shared, the sponsor must add the consent of the other parent, certified by the competent authority of the country where that parent lives. The same applies to shared guardianship. Family members need a passport valid at least three months beyond the planned departure and issued within the last ten years, a visa where the visa regime requires one, and must not be subject to an entry ban.

The family member can file at a North Macedonian mission abroad, or the sponsor can file with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVR) in North Macedonia. The ministry decides within 30 working days of receipt, or 60 working days when the file came through a mission, with a possible 30-working-day extension; the portal notes that the older appeal deadlines printed elsewhere on the page do not reflect the current law. The fees are MKD 50 for the request, MKD 1,230 for the decision, MKD 930 for the permit and MKD 4,000 for the permit form.

Family members can later count their time towards permanent residence, except where the sponsor stays for research or volunteering: those two family situations are excluded. When the sponsor holds permanent residence, permanent residence on the basis of family reunification is granted only to close family members living in a genuine marital or family union, and to dependent close relatives.

The Employment Agency issues work permits to foreigners whose temporary residence is based on family reunification, as well as to close family members of a foreigner who holds a work permit for an indefinite period. Family members receive residence for up to one year, and it is extended for the same period as the sponsor’s approved residence; extensions are filed with the MVR before expiry.