Route 02
Family reunification
For joining a family member who already lives legally in the Czech Republic. Fewer applicants take this route than the study route, and it demands far more patience.
Who can be reunited with whom
Czech law lets certain close family members join a person who already holds long-term or permanent residence there. The person already in the Czech Republic is the sponsor; the person applying from Nigeria is the applicant.
The relationships that generally qualify:
- A spouse joining their husband or wife
- A dependent minor child joining a parent
- In defined circumstances, a dependent parent joining an adult child
Relationships outside that list (fiancés, siblings, cousins, adult children, partners who are not married) do not normally qualify under this route, however genuine the relationship is. That is one of the first things we check, because it saves people a great deal of wasted money.
What is assessed
Four things the application has to prove
Family reunification decisions turn on evidence, not sympathy. These are the four pillars, and a weakness in any one of them is what causes refusals.
1. The relationship is genuine
Marriage or birth certificates, properly legalised and translated by a court-appointed translator. Where a marriage is recent or the couple has spent long periods apart, expect the relationship itself to be examined more closely, and expect to evidence it beyond the certificate.
2. There is somewhere to live
Proof of accommodation in the Czech Republic that is adequate for the number of people who will live in it, with the owner's consent properly evidenced. A tenancy in the sponsor's name alone is often not sufficient on its own.
3. The household can support itself
Combined household income has to clear a threshold set by Czech law, which scales with the number of people in the household. This is arithmetic, not judgement, and it is where applications most often fail. We calculate it before you apply, not after.
4. Health cover and good standing
Compliant health insurance for the applicant, plus a criminal record extract from Nigeria, legalised and translated. Straightforward on paper, but both have validity windows. Obtain them too early and they expire before the decision.
The hardest part is the waiting
You should go into this route knowing that Czech law allows a substantially longer statutory decision period for family reunification than for study applications, and in practice that period is routinely used in full. This is the single biggest difference between the two routes.
For families, that is genuinely hard. It can mean a spouse or a parent waiting many months with little visible movement, and no meaningful way to speed it up. We will give you the current statutory limits for your case at the consultation, rather than an encouraging estimate that falls apart in month five.
What we do during the wait
- Track validity windows, so nothing in your file expires before the decision lands
- Respond promptly to any request for additional information. These carry deadlines, and missing one can end the application
- Keep both the applicant in Nigeria and the sponsor in the Czech Republic informed at the same time
- Prepare the arrival steps in advance, so nothing is improvised once approval comes
Two people, two countries, one adviser
Family cases are the clearest reason our Czech and Nigerian numbers both exist. The sponsor can reach us on +420 776 708 423 in the Czech Republic and the applicant on +234 806 571 5680 in Nigeria, without either of them relaying messages through the other, and without waiting for a time zone to line up.
After approval
Arrival is not the finish line
A residence permit comes with obligations, and the first one has a three-working-day clock on it. We walk you through each of these.
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Register with the Foreign Police
Required within a short window of arrival (generally three working days) unless your accommodation provider registers you. Missing it starts your residence with a compliance problem.
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Biometrics and residence card
Attend the Ministry of the Interior to give biometrics and collect your biometric residence permit card, which is your actual proof of status.
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Health insurance transition
The cover that satisfied the visa stage is often not the cover you need as a resident. Getting this wrong creates both a legal and a financial exposure.
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Practical set-up
Bank account, registering with a doctor, school places for children, and understanding what you must report to the authorities and when.
Find out where you actually stand
Book a consultation and get a straight answer on whether your plan is realistic, what it will cost, and how long it will take, before you spend money on it.