Do you know any one who has emigrated??

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zahadoom

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Just want to put the question out there.
How many do you know, how did it turn out for them, have you considered emigrating your self, whats holding you back and so on.........?

I was chatting to a old school friend who matriculated 2005 and he said that in his class of 18 he knew only one person who had stayed in SA, I matriculated in 07 and about 5 people i know have made the trek out of SA. So is this common how bad was the brain drain in reality?
 
I know a bunch of people who left, though most of them have come back. The only ones who did not come back where single folks who ended up involved in a relationship with someone there.
 
PLENTY. Some have come back, including me. Most have not and are doing very well for themselves. I am considering going again.
 
A big part of my family migrated, they were abroad for about four years. They are all now back in South Africa. I have another cousin who is going to au pair, and she wants to come back when it is over.
 
Many people, friends, family and co-workers. Nobody has come back.

All are doing better than they would have done here, not least because they are accumulating assets in strong currencies.
 
I have family spread across the US.
My high school reunion was actually held in the UK, as there was more people there.

And a friend in Seattle. His wife was transferred to their head office, and he went along, thinking he'd not have any problems finding a job as a Oracle Consultant. Took him almost 18 months.
Another friend is at the moment in London with his wife, sussing things out - she's been offered a position there. He is in a very senior postion at a multi-national, I don't think he'd get the equivalent in the UK.
 
I know a few people of my matric year ('96) left SA (not sure how many).
 
I know many, not a single one has come back because they're doing much better for themselves in the first world.

Sinbad said:
PLENTY. Some have come back, including me. Most have not and are doing very well for themselves. I am considering going again.
Click to expand...

Interdasting. If you don't mind: Where did you go, why did you come back and will you go to the same place again?
 
TehStranger said:
I know many, not a single one has come back because they're doing much better for themselves in the first world.



Interdasting. If you don't mind: Where did you go, why did you come back and will you go to the same place again?
Click to expand...


Spent 5 years in London.
I came back because I was in a pretty bleak mental/emotional space at that point in my life (what I considered a perfect relationship ending, but still daily contact due to circumstances)... the appeal of family and friends back home got pretty strong. This was in 2004 - things in SA still looked pretty promising back then.
I'm considering going back to the same place for a couple of reasons. 1) easy. British passport. Can just go (barring visas for my wife etc) 2) Known - I know what to expect, how to get started, I still ahve a bank account there, etc. I also have some extended family there, and several friends still.

Why leave?
I'm scared of getting old in SA. I turn 40 next year. I have only 20 or so years to make sure my retirement is comfortable and secure - which can be done if I have to start over somewhere else now, but can't be done in 5 or 10 years' time. I'm scared that as I get older, pensioners etc may not be well catered for in SA. The health insurance thing that's bring brought in, etc... Will I be able to get decent medical care should I need it? Will there be a safe way for me to get around if for whatever reason I can't drive?
Will the economy still be OK in 20 years' time? I don't know - but these are risks I'm considering.
My parents have retired here and are well off and comfortable - but if the **** hits the fan, they are STUCK. Their assets here are worth little elsewhere in the world - they'd have to start working again to afford to live. I am scared of ending up in that same situation- a hostage to a depreciating currency.
 
I do. A friend got a transfer to Barcelona, and then got a job in Dublin. He came back for holiday, fell in love with a girl from our group of friends (lol), and they are now married with two children living in Dublin.

Another one is living in Canada, also not likely to come back.
 
Emigrated from SA to USA in 1961.
Then USA to UK in 1967.
Then UK to Rhodesia in 1973.
Rhodesia to SA in 1977.

Been back to UK a couple of times since then, and my son and brother are still there.

But..errr...I like it here. Finally came back to stay here in around 1990.

And Sinbad, I'm older than you and not afraid at all. But that's more because I'm a cranky old woman than anything else.
 
Sinbad said:
Spent 5 years in London.
I came back because I was in a pretty bleak mental/emotional space at that point in my life (what I considered a perfect relationship ending, but still daily contact due to circumstances)... the appeal of family and friends back home got pretty strong. This was in 2004 - things in SA still looked pretty promising back then.
I'm considering going back to the same place for a couple of reasons. 1) easy. British passport. Can just go (barring visas for my wife etc) 2) Known - I know what to expect, how to get started, I still ahve a bank account there, etc. I also have some extended family there, and several friends still.

Why leave?
I'm scared of getting old in SA. I turn 40 next year. I have only 20 or so years to make sure my retirement is comfortable and secure - which can be done if I have to start over somewhere else now, but can't be done in 5 or 10 years' time. I'm scared that as I get older, pensioners etc may not be well catered for in SA. The health insurance thing that's bring brought in, etc... Will I be able to get decent medical care should I need it? Will there be a safe way for me to get around if for whatever reason I can't drive?
Will the economy still be OK in 20 years' time? I don't know - but these are risks I'm considering.
My parents have retired here and are well off and comfortable - but if the **** hits the fan, they are STUCK. Their assets here are worth little elsewhere in the world - they'd have to start working again to afford to live. I am scared of ending up in that same situation- a hostage to a depreciating currency.
Click to expand...

Thanks, appreciate the great insight there as it touches on most of my concerns here. Plus the (relative) ease with which you can reestablish yourself in London makes it very tempting (to me at least).

I figured you for younger than 40. :whistle:
 
TehStranger said:
Thanks, appreciate the great insight there as it touches on most of my concerns here. Plus the (relative) ease with which you can reestablish yourself in London makes it very tempting (to me at least).

I figured you for younger than 40. :whistle:
Click to expand...

I am still younger than forty! For another 7 months...
 
I mostly know of married couples that have successfully emigrated; for some reason or other the single people or people in a steady relationship (not married), haven't made it.

2 couples in UK
1 couple in Germany
2 couples in Canada
1 couple somewhere in South America
1 couple in South Korea
1 couple in New Zealand
1 couple in UAE

They are in their late 20's to early 30's.

I chat to most of them throughout the month and they mostly refuse to move back to South Africa. Some of them have developed some delusions of South Africa and how backwards and primitive it is, and have completely forgotten their roots. Think of those typical expats now living in Australia News24 users, that just love commenting on SA politics.

I've considered it, but not willing to uproot without a guaranteed job on the other side, and one that is in my field of study. As for where, I still don't know where I'd like to end up, but it would have to be warm as I hate the cold.
My cousin and his wife emigrated to UK about 15 years ago; he was on the Pro-Am Golf circuit and managed a reputable golf club in the Western Cape and she had just finished her doctor's degree and had to do the 1 year community service. They decided to emigrate and stayed there until last year. He couldn't get a job and started off as security guard, followed by some labour job and eventually ended up as a greens-keeper for a small golf club; she on the other hand coined it big time. Since those early years, they managed to end up with a house and cars, so were well off. They're back in South Africa now to be closer to the family.
 
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