A/79/213 expeditious manner. An absence of accessible and flexible family reunification pathways or options for families to move together, as well as to enter and stay, leads children to take unsafe and irregular paths to reunify with family members. 46 Children and their families can face major obstacles to family reunification, leading to prolonged separations. Such obstacles include complex administrative requirements, limited eligibility criteria, including restrictive definitions of family that do n ot reflect children’s realities, lack of child best-interests procedures, highly discretionary decisions that lack transparency and a lack of information, support, legal aid and appeal possibilities. 47 21. To realize their commitments on pathways in the Global Compact for Migration, States agreed to draw from actions that include facilitating access to procedures for family reunification for migrants at all skills levels, including by reviewing and revising applicable requirements, such as on income, language proficiency, length of stay, work authorization and access to social security and services. 48 Family reunification should allow for both entry into the territory and regularization on the territory, and should provide family members with the same residency status as the initial applicant. 49 Well-designed and well-governed family reunification pathways support governments in their efforts to enhance regular migration pathways while upholding the right to family life and family unity, as well as child rights, and reducing vulnerabilities throughout the migration process. 50 States should give priority to applications for family reunification involving children. 51 22. Family reunification must always be guided by the outcome of best-interests processes, including the location for family reunification, since migration decisions for some children are motivated by family conflict, neglect or abuse by a caregiver, or some are victims of trafficking and/or exploitation by family members. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has confirmed that family reunification in the country of origin should not be pursued where there is a “reasonable risk” that such a return would lead to the violation of the rights of the child. 52 23. My predecessor has previously recommended that States should take appropriate measures towards regularizing the situation of migrants, considering factors such as the duration of their stay, their family situation and social, familial, educational and economic ties. 53 Regularization is a critical tool for the protection of children’s rights in migration contexts and for realizing the principle of the best interests of the child in migration policy. Given the negative impacts on children’s well-being of having an insecure and precarious migration status, it is crucial that clear and accessible status determination procedures for children are in place to regularize their status on various grounds. 54 In accordance with article 69 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, States should consider regularization as a way of ensuring that migrant workers and their families are not residing in irregular situations, giving particular consideration to their family situation. To realize their commitments in the Global Compact for Migration on addressing and reducing __________________ 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 24-13410 UNICEF, “Family unity in the context of migration”, working paper. Network on Migration, “Regular pathways”, para. 21, and Frances Nicholson, “The ‘essential right’ to family unity of refugees and others in need of international protection in the context of family reunification”, Legal and Protection Policy Research Series, PPLA/2018/02, (UNHCR, 2018), pp. 121–122. Global Compact for Migration, objective 5, para. 21 (i). Network on Migration, “Regular pathways”, para. 21. Ibid. A/HRC/49/31, para. 47. Joint general comment No. 4/No. 23 (2017), para. 35. A/HRC/53/26, para. 72 (a). Joint general comment No. 4/No. 23 (2017), para. 18. 9/24