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Question of the Day: Are you keeping your Prime subscription?
Are you considering emigration?
- Thread starter MartinGB
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Hamster
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I have family who pulled their kids out of school, they picked up on the new language quickly and life went on.
I know another very successful guy who emigrated, his kid could not adapt, they went back.
Only you know your kid.
A friend of mine and her husband left to the UK 18 months ago. They are returning to SA in June. They said they would rather live in SA with all the BS and have friends, family and a support system than in the UK with no one. They don't have kids, so maybe it's easier to live in SA if you don't have kids futures to worry about.
Hamster
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That's not entirely true. You can come over here as a startup or get hired by a company if they can prove there was nobody else in the EU and they're willing to goof the bill, research, ai pairs etc.
The highly skilled visa is just the easiest - pass the job interview, get on a plane. It also makes the most sense - why would anybody move to the NL if it wasn't for a high salary and tax benefits?
MVV is you temporary residence permit (Machtiging to Voorlopig Verblijf) which gives you 90 days to get into the country and get your residence card which states you are a skilled migrant, that you are allowed to work etc.
My 2c, we left last year May for Canada on PR, both 30yo with a 3 yo son. Initial reason was for an adventure and life experience and for our son to have options in his future. Plan has always been to return when we are in a position to retire. Only need to be in Canada for 3 years before applying for citizenship, which is much quicker than most other countries.
We both got jobs within 6 weeks of landing in the exact same fields we were in back in SA, neither of us are in regulated professions. We are paid a proper living wage, and are already on our way of saving what we spent to get here. Will be buying a house within the next 6 months. Our financial lives have improved incredibly well, and we are currently in a place that would have taken at least another 10 plus years to attain back in SA. My son will have the opportunity to study at great Universities if he so chooses, or get a trade and earn a phenomenal income by 25.
Is it expensive? Yes, when you are using your rands to reset your life, however with jobs, as a straight % comparison between the cost of an item and our income, it is cheaper than SA, for the majority of things, excluding cigarettes ( that's way more expensive regardless). I miss certain parts of my life back in SA, but I also know, we are creating something that will allow us to travel and enjoy those parts on holiday (Kruger sunsets and braais is the main one) but I can also take the family down to the Carribean for a week or Hawaii when our US visa comes through on an annual basis, island holidays that would have been once in a decade for us back in SA.
I do find life can be a bit boring at times, but its because I am not stressed or fighting anyone or any circumstance that is now out of so many peoples control, which I am so grateful for. I am able to look after my family and my sons future not by just keeping them safe, but giving them opportunities that exist in this world. I am eternally grateful that we were able to obtain PR and am so well aware of how many people don't or cant qualify, but if there is a chance, not just to flee SA, but to give yourself the opportunity of experiencing different parts of life and opportunity, go for it!
We both got jobs within 6 weeks of landing in the exact same fields we were in back in SA, neither of us are in regulated professions. We are paid a proper living wage, and are already on our way of saving what we spent to get here. Will be buying a house within the next 6 months. Our financial lives have improved incredibly well, and we are currently in a place that would have taken at least another 10 plus years to attain back in SA. My son will have the opportunity to study at great Universities if he so chooses, or get a trade and earn a phenomenal income by 25.
Is it expensive? Yes, when you are using your rands to reset your life, however with jobs, as a straight % comparison between the cost of an item and our income, it is cheaper than SA, for the majority of things, excluding cigarettes ( that's way more expensive regardless). I miss certain parts of my life back in SA, but I also know, we are creating something that will allow us to travel and enjoy those parts on holiday (Kruger sunsets and braais is the main one) but I can also take the family down to the Carribean for a week or Hawaii when our US visa comes through on an annual basis, island holidays that would have been once in a decade for us back in SA.
I do find life can be a bit boring at times, but its because I am not stressed or fighting anyone or any circumstance that is now out of so many peoples control, which I am so grateful for. I am able to look after my family and my sons future not by just keeping them safe, but giving them opportunities that exist in this world. I am eternally grateful that we were able to obtain PR and am so well aware of how many people don't or cant qualify, but if there is a chance, not just to flee SA, but to give yourself the opportunity of experiencing different parts of life and opportunity, go for it!
Is business conducted in English or Dutch mostly? If I come on an EU passport I assume it should be somewhat feasible to get work there...
Nice . What requirements did you need to meet for PR? I had friends that applied for Canada (non tech, teaching) and after a year they got them without any trouble.
Hamster
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Big companies conduct business in English (ie. where those on the highly skilled visas tend to work), but not all.
If you're going to try find work here at a place like a grocery store, restaurant, hair salon etc. you're going to need to know Dutch.
Exceptions to everything, obviously.
s0lar
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I have found a huge community with the saffers here. (Easy to spot as they normally wearing k-way). Dare I say more social than back in SA. Plenty of what you doing this weekend? Want to grab a drink after work as well as the let’s all meet at the pub and watch the rugby. Loads of us in the same predicament there is a lot of solidarity.
We went straight PR, which is their points system, based on age, qualifications and English results. Did it ourselves during Covid, which delayed processing a bit, but 14 months later got the visas and landed. Timeline between starting to gather the docs, English Test etc to filing the application for payment was 3 months.
I had a distant 2nd cousin where we moved, but wasn't planned and hadn't met them before arriving, and knew no one else, but have made a really good group of friends with other Saffas, doing a big lake house holiday in a few months, and we were the only ones with a child, all others are married or single. I have enjoyed keeping certain Saffa traditions and meals which we host Canadians we have met since arriving.
charlieharper
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I agree about UAE & China, but totally possible in Korea & Japan.
Sure, little bit trickier, so not many people go through with it, but I read article + watch documentary, specifically about Japan, that 97% of naturalisation applications are successful - in fact they assign you a case worker to help you with all the documentation etc to make sure it will be successful.
They have a shrinking population, so they kinda need to be accepting - but unlike what the EU did by handing out citizenship to people not fitting in like candy bars and instead telling existing citizens to "embrace multiculturalism & diversity", they make sure you actually fit in and have forgotten your heritage, religions, etc to not be a nuisance, like what's happening in Europe, Australia, etc.
So that's where the case worker comes in, to vouch for the Japanese Government, that you in fact do fit in, can speak the language like a 7 year old and don't plan on setting up a new church once you have the constitutional right to live there.
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Ok thanks. So investment banks and the like would probably be ok with English? Makes sense on the visa making everyone foreign - I'm hoping it would be similar in other EU countries too, just need to look out for the larger multinationals/visa firms then...
This is probably largely personality dependent. We moved to a country without knowing anyone there, and also have no kids, but we've made tons of friends. I imagine it's a problem with people who are more introverted though.
I had also already noticed a trend of friends leaving (today, almost none are in SA), although most of family is still in SA. I'm really good at keeping in contact with them (chat 3-4 times a week). For those who are less digitally inclined (on both sides), I imagine that this would also be a problem.
Find groups of people with some shared interest (meetups, live music, etc.), and take it from there. You meet their friends, then theirs, etc., and eventually you develop a really good network.
Sinbad
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Yeah - guess that's why I'd like to move somewhere that has a lot of either: family, people that speak a language I know (not sure how friendly dutch, german, french people are to foreigners... and every city seems different. tier 1 cities probably better than a 2nd-tier city or small town), and hopefully not too many expats that are only there for 1 to 2 years.
Let's see, maybe it's semigration to the cape first
purple face
Honorary Master
79 people are not going anywhere, im assuming they only have South African passports