The 12-Month Plan
Updated 25 August 2026
For the family whose child's result came out this month and whose honest budget is around ₦1.5m. The route is not a country; it is a twelve-month asset.
Month by month (Ebuka, 17, six credits; Mrs Okafor, Enugu: a picture, not a client)
| Month | The work |
|---|---|
| 1 (September) | JAMB registration tracked and a Nigerian admission pursued in parallel; transcripts and two referees requested; register for Open Doors (closes 1 November); free placement test at Goethe-Institut Lagos or Alliance Française; choose ONE language: German (opens the paid training route) or French (opens Canada's French-language draws, last draw 382 on 19 August) |
| 2 (October) | First language course paid (fees on the Goethe or Alliance page); Open Doors portfolio completed; English test booked if the Hungary programme requires one |
| 3 (November) | Hungary's call expected to open (Nigeria is on the partner list); choose two programmes the week it opens; motivation letter drafted |
| 4 (December) | Hungary submitted, on the portal and through the Nigerian sending partner; Open Doors second stage |
| 5 (January) | Language level 1 exam; the Hungary deadline passes with the file already in |
| 6 (February) | THE REVIEW: did a window open? Did the language move a level? Is the Nigerian admission in hand? What changed in the rules? The next six months are chosen here |
| 7 to 12 | Level 2 of the language; if Hungary or Open Doors lands, visa preparation (the scholarship letter replaces the bank statement); if not, the language certificate is the asset that carries into next year's windows and into the German training route at B1 |
The money map for ₦1.5m
Three lines decide this budget. Only one of them survives a refusal, so it gets funded first.
Line 1, the language ladder. The biggest line, and the only asset here. Three levels, A1 to B1, and each level costs a course fee plus one exam fee. Both figures are printed on the provider's own page: Goethe-Institut Lagos for German, Alliance Française for French. Write those two numbers down once and the whole year prices itself: (course + exam) × 3. Sit the free placement test before you pay for anything, because if it puts you above A1 you have just deleted a level from that arithmetic.
Line 2, the file. Small, fixed, unavoidable. Transcripts and courier, JAMB and the Nigerian admission, and one English test if the scholarship asks for it. Every one of these is a Nigerian price you can confirm with a phone call this week, so confirm them this week.
Line 3, the buffer. About a tenth, and untouchable. It exists for a re-sit, a courier that goes missing, a fee that moves. It is never spent on an agent, a "processing" charge, or a "slot".
The rule that governs all three: if lines 1 and 2 together will not fit inside ₦1.5m, cut the destination, never the language. A cancelled application costs you one application. A half-finished language ladder costs you the whole year, and next year's windows too.
Never on this plan
Selling land or a house. A borrowed or prepared bank statement: Canada's own page says settlement money cannot be borrowed, and the UK's reads 28 unbroken days. Any agent offering a package, a guaranteed admission, or a "free visa".
Mistakes
- Waiting on the scholarship before pursuing JAMB.
- Starting a language in month six instead of month one.
- Spending the buffer on an agent.
- Treating "not this year" as "never"; the language certificate does not expire when a rule changes.
Rekoja provides information and document preparation, not regulated immigration advice, so confirm every rule above with its official source before you act.