Support services
The parts most applications fail on
Available as part of a full route, or on their own if you are managing your own application and only need one piece done properly.
Visa refusals are rarely about the applicant. Overwhelmingly they are about documents: the wrong language, a missing stamp, steps done in the wrong order, or money that exists but cannot be evidenced in an acceptable form. Each service below exists because we watched it go wrong.
Service 01
Sworn Czech translation
Czech authorities do not accept ordinary translations of official documents. They require a translation by a court-appointed translator (in Czech, a soudní tlumočník) who is authorised by a Czech court, and whose translation is physically bound to the source document and stamped with their official seal.
That bound, stamped document carries legal weight. A PDF from a translation agency, however accurate and however cheap, does not. This distinction catches out a large share of first-time applicants.
What we do
- Identify exactly which of your documents need sworn translation, and which do not. You do not need to pay for all of them
- Sequence translation correctly against legalisation, so you do not pay twice
- Commission the translation through court-appointed translators
- Check the output against the original before it goes anywhere near an application
Service 02
Legalisation of Nigerian documents
A Nigerian certificate has no automatic standing abroad. Before a foreign authority will rely on it, it has to be authenticated through a recognised chain, so the receiving country can be confident the document and the signature on it are real.
Depending on the document and the current arrangements between the two countries, that chain runs through the issuing body, Nigerian federal authorities, and then either an apostille certificate or consular legalisation. Which chain applies is not a matter of preference, and it changes. We confirm the correct current route for each document rather than assuming.
Where people lose months
- Doing translation before legalisation, when it needed to be the other way round
- Legalising a photocopy when a certified true copy or original was required
- Obtaining a document so early that it expires before the decision
- Missing an intermediate step, so the final authority rejects the chain
Service 03
Proof of funds
You have to show that you can support yourself for the whole period you are applying for. Czech law sets the figure by formula, tied to the official subsistence minimum, and it is updated periodically, which is why the confident numbers circulating in Facebook groups and WhatsApp broadcasts are so often wrong.
To budget realistically for the study route, work on the order of ₦10 million, before tuition. Tuition, where it applies, sits on top of that.
Treat that as orientation only. The binding requirement is set in Czech crowns by Czech law, so the naira equivalent moves with both the Czech threshold and the exchange rate, and it varies with your route, your length of stay, your age and your household size. We calculate your actual figure at the consultation and keep it current as it changes.
The money has to stay there
This is the part almost nobody plans for. Because of the processing period the Czech Ministry of the Interior takes, your funds need to be in place and evidenced for roughly three months, give or take, not just on the morning of your embassy appointment.
So a balance you can only hold for a fortnight is not proof of funds. It is a problem waiting to surface at the worst possible moment, and it is the single most common reason a case that looked fine on paper falls apart.
Form matters as much as amount
Having the money is necessary but not sufficient. It has to be evidenced in a way the Embassy accepts, and several things that feel like proof are treated as weak:
- A large balance that appeared days before the application, with no explanation of where it came from
- Funds in an account you do not control, without proper sponsorship documentation
- Statements that are not properly issued and certified by the bank
- Assets that are real but not liquid, presented as available cash
We calculate your current requirement, review what you actually have, and tell you plainly whether it will stand up, before you book anything.
Service 04
Document logistics
Applications involve original documents that cannot simply be re-printed, moving between your hands, government offices in Nigeria, translators, the Embassy in Abuja, and often the Czech Republic. Every one of those handoffs is a chance to lose weeks.
We coordinate that movement: tracked, sequenced so documents are never in two places at once when they are needed, and timed so nothing sits expiring in a drawer while you wait on something else.
What this covers
- Tracked courier of originals and certified copies between Nigeria and the Czech Republic
- Getting documents to and from translators and legalising authorities
- Keeping a complete record of what is where, and what state it is in
- Retrieving documents after a decision
Service 05
Consultation
A single structured session about your specific situation. Most people book this first, and a good number need nothing else from us afterwards. They leave with a plan they can execute themselves, which is a perfectly good outcome.
What you get
- An honest assessment of whether your plan is realistic, and on what timeline
- Which route fits: study, family, or neither
- Your proof-of-funds requirement, calculated for your case
- The document list you will actually need, in sequence
- A realistic total cost across all four cost pots
- The specific risks in your case, named rather than glossed over
If the honest answer is that your plan will not work, you will hear that in the consultation. We would rather lose the engagement than take a fee for something we expect to fail.
The process
Six stages, start to residence card
The most common complaint about relocation agents is silence. Every stage below has a defined outcome, so at any point you can tell whether your case is actually moving.
Sequence, not a schedule. These stages happen in order and each waits on the one before it. That is why the total time is driven by the slowest step rather than the sum of the fast ones, and why starting early matters more than working quickly later.
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Stage 1: Consultation and eligibility check
One structured session covering your goals, qualifications, finances and family situation. We work out which route fits, whether the timing is realistic, and what the obstacles specific to your case are.
You leave with: a clear yes, no, or “yes but not this year”, plus your calculated proof-of-funds requirement and an honest total cost across official fees, third-party costs, funds you must hold, and our fee.
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Stage 2: Written plan and engagement
If you decide to go ahead, you get the plan in writing: chosen institution or family route, the full document list in the order it must be done, who is responsible for each item, cost lines, and target dates.
Why in writing: so you can hold us to it, and so nobody can later claim something different was agreed. Our fee and its payment stages are part of the same document.
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Stage 3: Admission, or relationship evidence
Study route: nostrification of your WAEC, NECO or degree qualifications, then applications to your shortlisted institutions, through to a confirmed acceptance or enrolment letter.
Family route: confirming your sponsor’s residence status and qualifying period, then assembling the relationship, accommodation and household income evidence.
This is usually the longest stage and the one with the most waiting on third parties. It is also where a case most often reveals that it needs to be re-planned. Better to find that out here than at the Embassy.
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Stage 4: The document pack
Legalisation and sworn Czech translation in the correct order, criminal record extract, accommodation confirmation, compliant insurance, and your financial evidence, assembled and checked as a single file rather than a pile of separate errands.
This is the stage that decides the outcome. Before anything is submitted, the complete pack is reviewed against the Embassy’s current published requirements, document by document.
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Stage 5: Embassy application in Abuja
Appointment booking, form preparation consistent with every supporting document, fee guidance, and interview preparation so that nothing on the day is a surprise.
You attend in person and give your own biometrics. That is a legal requirement and there is no way around it, but you will walk in knowing what is in your file and why, and able to answer questions about it in your own words.
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Stage 6: Decision, travel and arrival
While the decision is pending we track validity windows so nothing expires, and respond to any request for further information within its deadline.
On approval: visa collection, travel planning, then the arrival obligations: Foreign Police registration within roughly three working days, biometrics and your residence permit card at the Ministry of the Interior, health insurance transition, and a bank account.
If the answer is a refusal: we go through the stated grounds with you and give you a straight assessment of whether re-application or appeal is worth it. We do not pretend a weak case is strong, and we do not charge you to reapply into the same refusal.
While it is running
How you will hear from us
Between stages, relocation cases go quiet for genuine reasons. You may be waiting on an office. Silence from your adviser during those periods is what makes people panic and start again elsewhere.
So the commitment is simple: you will always know which stage you are in, what is being waited on, and roughly when to expect the next movement. Where the honest answer is “still waiting, nothing has changed”, we will tell you that rather than say nothing.
Reaching us
- WhatsApp for quick questions and document photos, usually the fastest route to an answer
- Nigerian line: +234 806 571 5680
- Czech line: +420 776 708 423, so a sponsor in the Czech Republic is not calling internationally
- Email for anything that needs a written record: hello@nextstepwithfabian.com
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.