Your spouse or parent lives in France and has obtained family reunification approval, but the French consulate in Dakar refuses the visa? This is a frequent situation, and the refusal can often be challenged.
How family reunification works
A foreign national who has been lawfully residing in France for at least eighteen months may apply to be joined by his or her spouse and their minor children (CESEDA, article L434-2). Approval is given in France after the housing and income conditions have been checked. The visa is then applied for at the consulate.
Why the consulate refuses when the prefecture has approved
- Civil status: this is the main ground. The consulate disputes the authenticity or regularity of a birth or marriage certificate, or of a supplementary judgment;
- The family link: doubts about a child’s parentage or about the marriage;
- Alleged fraud in the documents produced.
These refusals almost always turn on the value of the Senegalese civil status records. This is precisely the field of Legal Field Avocats: checking, correcting or reconstituting the records before the appeal.
How to challenge the refusal
- Appeal to the CRRV within 30 days of notification of the refusal. This appeal is mandatory before any court action.
- Action before the Administrative Court of Nantes if the CRRV rejects the appeal or does not reply. An urgent application (référé) is possible in case of urgency.
Decisions obtained by our correspondent law firm
Some cases won by FB AVOCAT, our correspondent law firm in France, in comparable situations (case reports in French):
- Annulation de deux refus de visas en réunification familiale : valeur probante des actes d’état civil étrangers
- Annulation d’un refus de regroupement familial
How we help
In Dakar, Legal Field Avocats secures the civil status records (rectification, supplementary judgment, transcription). In France, FB AVOCAT, our correspondent law firm, handles the CRRV appeal and the proceedings before the Administrative Court of Nantes.
Family reunification visa refused? Do not miss the 30-day deadline. Call us on +221 33 844 29 16.
Sources: CESEDA, articles L434-1 to L434-12 and D312-3 to R312-6. Accessed on 4 November 2026.
LEGAL FIELD AVOCATS
14 rue Woro Fila, Fann Hock, Dakar, Senegal
Phone: +221 33 844 29 16
Email: contact@fbavocat-sn.com
Our correspondent law firm in France:
FB AVOCAT
11 rue Galin, 33100 Bordeaux, France
Phone: +33 9 85 40 18 64
Email: contact@legalfb-avocat.fr