Existing Contracts when Emigrating....

K

Kavi P

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Hi all,

I have an existing contract with MTN (1 year of payments remaining) and a second one that I'm planning on renewing soon. I'm planning on emigrating in around 6-12 months time. The length of the contract, should I upgrade is 3 years. I will still continue to pay the contract via a eft while overseas, but the main thing I'm concerned about is will this affect the emigration process, ie will the country I'm applying to see that as a red flag and insist that I pay off the contract before they approve my emigration?

I've tried searching online and have found no information at all regarding this. Any info you provide will be extremely helpful. Thanks!

(I hope I posted this in the correct forum)
 
Other than a police clearance certificate, they only look at a SARS compliance certificate. (Or whatever it is called.)

But the least you could do for your ex-comrades before abandoning us all forever is to pay your TV licence, in full.
 
D said:
Other than a police clearance certificate, they only look at a SARS compliance certificate. (Or whatever it is called.)

But the least you could do for your ex-comrades before abandoning us all forever is to pay your TV licence, in full.
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Thanks!

I made the mistake of giving the TV licence my bank details a decade ago so they debit me like clockwork once a year.
 
Steamy Tom said:
why renew the contract if you plan to leave?
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I was planning to take advantage of the Black Friday deals. I also work from home so an upgrade would improve my productivity. But I wouldn't go anywhere near it if it's going to compromise my emigration application.
 
Kavi P said:
I was planning to take advantage of the Black Friday deals. I also work from home so an upgrade would improve my productivity. But I wouldn't go anywhere near it if it's going to compromise my emigration application.
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Depends on the country and what path you are taking.

Was about to move to Ireland last year and all my existing commitments in SA from cars, home bond to cellphones would not have negatively impacted me. Put everything on hold after an unexpected crisis.

Just do your research. I found the ex-pat SAffer Facebook community groups to be the most helpful. If you can't find one for country X then you probably have a bigger problem.
 
Where are you emigrating to?

Regardless, they usually don't care what debt you have (it's the problem of creditors in the country you're leaving, not theirs). You'll need to submit bank statements if you're going the visa route, but all they want to see is that you have enough money in your bank account to be self-sufficient once you land.
 
You can cancel the contract at any time but the act says that they can charge you a reasonable cancelation. Thats typically the full price of the phone + most of the contract but you can cancel early.
 
Kavi P said:
Hi all,

I have an existing contract with MTN (1 year of payments remaining) and a second one that I'm planning on renewing soon. I'm planning on emigrating in around 6-12 months time. The length of the contract, should I upgrade is 3 years. I will still continue to pay the contract via a eft while overseas, but the main thing I'm concerned about is will this affect the emigration process, ie will the country I'm applying to see that as a red flag and insist that I pay off the contract before they approve my emigration?

I've tried searching online and have found no information at all regarding this. Any info you provide will be extremely helpful. Thanks!

(I hope I posted this in the correct forum)
Click to expand...
I doubt a cellphone contract would be considered ties to a country to the extent that it would affect an emigration application unless it materially messes with your affordability/means test.
 
If you're not planning on coming back, poof, don't even bother paying anything
 
B-1 said:
You can cancel the contract at any time but ...
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attachment.php


;)
 
Kavi P said:
Thanks!

I made the mistake of giving the TV licence my bank details a decade ago so they debit me like clockwork once a year.
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Good luck canceling it... I kept my old SA number on an old phone and still get the threatening SMS's, phone calls etc, all of which I ignore. I left 2 years ago. I followed the official process to cancel.

I paid my MTN account monthly from my SA bank account until the contract came up for renewal, then downgraded to a R25 a month contract.
 
killerbyte said:
Thats the thing... debt doesn't follow you. So you can just pack it up and leave.
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Yeah I dont think I would want to test that. I emigrated to Canada and am still paying off some credit card debt after 2 years. That debt was almlst clean when we got here but having that credit available to us starting out here and **** happened that was my only line of credit. Not repaying it is basically stealing money from the bank.

Although we dont ever want to return permanently maybe just for vacation, you never know what happens in future you might have to return for good and it will suck to start off again from scrath plus being blacklisted.

On the cellphone contract. Cancel that thing the week before emigrating. Its difficult to cancel from abroad.
 
killerbyte said:
Thats the thing... debt doesn't follow you. So you can just pack it up and leave.
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It doesn’t for average Joe however I do know of people who have leveraged their previous credit ratings to motivate/advantage their new found lack-of-credit in their new countries with financial institutions which are immigrant-friendly. Also, there are companies that do background checks which can extend offshore but this is usually for very specific positions.
 
The ethics of people amazes me. Then they wonder why the world is as it is and they normally the first to pull the various cards available for defense

Such as
Racism
Didn't know
Picking on me
Why me
Etc.
 
"D" said:

How a traffic offence can impact South Africans planning to move to the UK

How a traffic offence can impact South Africans planning to move to the UK Regardless of the route taken to British citizenship, every applicant must satisfy the good character requirement, says John Dunn, director of citizenship and immigration at Sable International.
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za

Kavi P ... no longer a migratory V I P ...
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Article addresses his specific question regarding debt:

“An application will not normally be refused because the person is in debt, especially if loan repayments have been made as agreed or if acceptable efforts are being made to pay off accumulated debts. However, where a person deliberately and recklessly builds up debts and there is no evidence of a serious intention to pay them off, Home Office will normally refuse the application.”
 
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