Cameroon family reunification and family accompaniment

Chapter V of Decree No. 2023/147 applies to relatives of a foreigner who is to stay more than three months in Cameroon. Article 46 names the beneficiaries: the spouse, minor children or adult children who are still studying, and first-degree ascendants, meaning parents. Article 18 also counts the spouse and dependent minor children who live with a foreign resident as a category of foreigners in residence in their own right.

The sponsor must be admitted in Cameroon either for a stay (holder of a carte de séjour) or as a resident (holder of a carte de résident) and must have housing and stable, sufficient resources on the spot. Each applicant must produce documents proving the family relationship, and the missions and emigration-immigration services are directed to facilitate the formalities.

For the long-stay visa the relative provides a passport valid for more than six months, a ticket, the vaccination certificates, a repatriation guarantee (for a stay of more than three months, a return ticket valid one year), and the marriage or birth certificate establishing the link. The sponsor's side should show the residence or resident card, housing and stable resources, the conditions the decree sets for both procedures. Official sources do not specify a minimum income amount or a housing size.

A visit under family accompaniment uses the short-stay visa at 100,000 XAF (150,000 XAF express). Reunification uses the long-stay visa, set at 200,000 XAF by Ordinance No. 2024/001. The carte de séjour stamp duty is fixed by the annual finance law; the official sources consulted do not give the current amount.

Family accompaniment covers a relative who wants to accompany or join the resident for no more than three months. The relative files the request at the competent Cameroonian embassy or consulate, which in practice means a short-stay visa application on evisacam.cm with proof of the family link, the sponsor's residence card and evidence of accommodation.

Family reunification covers a relative who is to settle in Cameroon with the resident. Under Article 52 the request is filed not by the relative abroad but by the foreigner admitted in Cameroon, with the emigration-immigration services of the DGSN. Once it is accepted, the relative applies on evisacam.cm for a long-stay visa; Article 36 of the decree lists an act proving the marriage for a spouse, or the parental link for dependent minor children, among the documents for that visa.

A reunified relative staying beyond the visa applies for a carte de séjour, valid two years and renewable, with the passport bearing the long-stay visa, a certificate of domicile, a criminal record extract, a tax clearance certificate and the stamp duty. Family members who later leave Cameroon temporarily need an exit visa like any other foreign resident. Children who reach adulthood while studying remain eligible as long as their studies continue.