This paper seeks in a comparative way and based on the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union and of the European Court of Human Rights to shed light on matters of humanitarian visas that have always been more political and less legal. What is today's reality? What types of humanitarian visas are there? What is the relevant legislation? What role do the European institutions play? These are some of the questions that we try to analyze and understand if we are talking about an effective protection of human and family life and safety or if we find ourselves in such an open and unprecedented crisis where the jurisprudence no longer can find solutions to problems that have no legal basis.