Do you know any one who has emigrated??

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.
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Dude that last bit is eerily accurate. I'm in exactly the same situation, down to the age. I'm looking at Canada.

My sister's marriage didn't make it, took him to the cleaners. But now he has remarried - her PA of all people(Its a long and unpleasant story). And they have two kids. She'd like to come back, but will not have the same standards of living or be able to bring her kids.
 
MrR said:
Some of them have developed some delusions of South Africa and how backwards and primitive it is, and have completely forgotten their roots.
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It is backwards and primitive, spend a decent amount of time in any first world country and you'll see that.
 
Yip, if only people experienced life in a first world country. If I go, I will never come back, except to visit family.
 
Moved to SA in the late '90s and I think I'm ready to move back - if I can convince the missus that is.
 
Have some friends and family who went and stayed overseas, others who went and decided to come back. Where your family is makes a big difference. Most of our family is in SA so we are sticking it out here. About 5 years ago I had an itch to go as did my wife so before we started our family we went to scope it out. In all places we went we found there where issues even if they where very different to the issues we face here. The biggest issue we found was that many of our family/friends who had gone over struggled to make friends over there as they where viewed as lower class emigrants in some respects.

We had no issue after that trip in deciding to make a go of it in SA. Provided the government does not break any of the following for me I will remain:
1. Can't live reasonably safely here
2. Can't find affordable education for my kids
3. Can't get decent medical care
4. Respect of private property laws
5. Can't find employment due to skin colour
6. Julius Malema or his like is not president

For now I can get all of the above here with some planning and reasonable effort so I remain. If Malema or a Malema like figure gets in power I am out of here and when I go I will try persaude my entire family to follow so that we can set up a new support base somewhere else.
 
My brother has been in London for 6 years. You could never pay him enough to come back. Know quite a few people who have left, most won't come back

I think about it almost everyday, wish I had done it earlier. Now I have a house and am starting a new career in a great company. Still I can see myself leaving in 5 years
 
I have family and friends who moved to Vancouver, Perth and Wellington.
Some left more than 10 years ago and some recently.
None of them have come back and I doubt they will ever come back.

One of them left because of the black empowerment criteria. He couldn't find work in SA for nearly two years yet he was snatched up overseas within a month. It's no fun when you can't provide for your family just because your skin colour is a bit pale. I doubt him and his family will come back either even though they miss friends and family.

If things start to go seriously wrong in SA (which is starting to look like a strong possibility) I may consider emigrating with my family as well. Not sure where yet but I saw what happened to friends who tried to stick it out in Zim. They lost everything in the end and were forced to come to SA.
 
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About to debate this very issue with the SO - if it will be done, needs to be done before kids (which is about 5 years away).
 
I'm seriously considering selling my house and packing up and leave for the states. I have now been denied a promotion twice just because of my skin colour and busy going backwards at an alarming rate due to below inflation increases because I'm not part of a union. I want to live in a society where all is considered equal. I'm 33 and it's just me and my wife still as we can't afford to have kids at. My parents are deceased and her parents stay so far away that we only see them once or twice a year, so we don't have anything keeping us here.
 
Nearly my whole extended family has emigrated. Nobody has returned. They all are very happy overseas and encourage me to come out and see what life is like with them hoping that I will emigrate as well.

My immediate family is still here. That is mostly what keeps me here. I'm not sure for how long though.
 
The majority of people I knew in my school year left, only a handful returned. Most went to the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand with a few ending up in continental Europe. They all seem to be doing fine.

This excludes people after school one met during work etc who have also left, of those only one returned but he's thinking of making a final run for it.
 
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If it wasn't for my parents, brother I would leave (with wife and kids of course).
 
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