Going to South Africa

[sp3ctre]

I am an IT specialist working for a software house in the north of England. My girlfriend is South African and is currently living out there. I want to be with her and it's proving a challenge for her to come here, so I was wondering if it would be possible to go there.

Is there anything I should know, hurdles etc, in the first place?

Thanks,

Jim

[JAJ]

I am an IT specialist working for a software house in the north of England. My girlfriend is South African and is currently living out there. I want to be with her and it's proving a challenge for her to come here, so I was wondering if it would be possible to go there.

Is there anything I should know, hurdles etc, in the first place?

Is South Africa really the place you want to live long term?

[sp3ctre]

I am an IT specialist working for a software house in the north of England. My girlfriend is South African and is currently living out there. I want to be with her and it's proving a challenge for her to come here, so I was wondering if it would be possible to go there.

Is there anything I should know, hurdles etc, in the first place?

Is South Africa really the place you want to live long term?

Not necessarily, no... don't get me wrong it seems like a nice place but I think our first option would be the UK, it's just proving to be a challenge. Ideally we wold find a way to spend time together and then get married eventually, but it looks like we have to get married in order to spend time together unless we can find a way of swinging a visa for her over here.

The reason for this post was to figure out the options and what would be involved if I did decide to go over there.

Many thanks,

Jim

[coronat]

Hiya, recently arrived in the UK from South Africa, I can only give you a generalised persepective but perhaps you can use the info as a guidline;
1~ Make sure you are employable, the current affirmative action legislation made it extremely difficult for me to find work in South Africa with 9 years worth of IT experience.
2~Check the salary ranges for your profession, in english terms south african work is very poorly paid.
3~I understand that the department of home affairs (visa / passports etc) is experiencing a backlog at the moment, as an example my sister is applying for a passport renewal which should take about 2 weeks and has been told the waiting time is a minimum of 9 weeks.
4~The country is beautiful however the lifestyle is somewhat different, bars on windows/electric and pallisade fencing and crime is a daily part of life, make sure you can live in this kind of environment as it isnt easy.
5~There is no social support whatsoever so remember to budget on paying for private medical aid (may be subsidised by employer) pension fund/s etc.
6~The cultural change may be the most difficult aspect to deal with, south africa generally is a very insular culture and dont always welcome foreigners easily although they can be a friendly bunch on occasaion.


anyway good luck with the move if you decide on it.

[JAJ]

Is South Africa really the place you want to live long term?

Not necessarily, no... don't get me wrong it seems like a nice place but I think our first option would be the UK, it's just proving to be a challenge. Ideally we wold find a way to spend time together and then get married eventually, but it looks like we have to get married in order to spend time together unless we can find a way of swinging a visa for her over here.

Some thoughts:

1. Would the fiancee visa work for your partner?

2. Are you sure she has no British or other European ancestry that might allow her an Ancestry Visa, Irish passport etc.

3. Would either of you qualify to migrate to Australia? May be an alternative to South Africa.

4. Is she eligible for a U.K. working holiday visa?

[Chunkofpunk]

I've just come back from SA, I was meant to go for 3 months with my fiance but i left early as it was just so different to the UK.
Its a great country but the crime is very high and the difference between the v.rich and v.poor is very hard to accept!
Obviously these things you would get used to in time, but another thing that i found awkward was the neighbourhood that my OH lived in, which was predominantly black, as i am mixed race (or white according to some of his neighbours!?!) It was slightly annoying to be stared at and whispered about EVERYWHERE i walked, I never felt threatened but it was very awkward sometimes! Of course this may not apply to you.
I was told that SA companies are trying to employ SA people over foreigners, and jobs are quite scarse anyway..
Good luck

[Dawie]

I agree that crime is a problem and something you will have to get used to. It is still unusual to see people of different races/backgrounds mixing together except when forced to, e.g. in shopping centers and restaurants, etc.

From a social point of view, being a black British person is probably the most difficult situation to be in, because you will be neither accepted by white South Africans nor black South Africans who particularly view black people from outside South Africa with suspicion, especially black people with British accents!

There is a major, some say crippling, skills shortage in South Africa at the moment, to the extent that they are struggling to keep the electricity running for a lack of engineers. Likewise in the fields of IT, teaching, medicine, etc.

Affirmative action does not apply to these types of jobs as a lot of companies are happy to get anyone to fill the position, black or white, local or foreigner. There are various work permit quotas available in a whole range of shortage occupations.

[macaroni]

Don't forget the loadshedding. Power cuts are the norm now, I believe.