Emigration (Leaving SA)
You also don't have to pay the NHS tax there, but you can only move to the mainland after you get ILR
Emigration (Leaving SA)
- Thread starter AdrianH
- Start date
cowbrains
Active member
Yeah that's me. Will be here for 3 years next week
OP
AdrianH
Administrator
Feels like just the other week you just arrived hey?
cowbrains
Active member
Yeah it feels like it's flown by, but a lot has happened in between. Think it's also to do with getting older
We almost moved to Canada end 2021. Worked remotely for a company in Vancouver in SA, VISA paperwork was done, the $5000 to the agency was already paid but I hated the people I was working with. Luckily, I found a job in the UK end 2021.
cowbrains
Active member
I actively encourage people to stay clear of agencies for Canadian immigration. Everything you need is online (albeit time consuming) and you'll save a good chunk of money.
Also had my sights set for Vancouver, but housing is a lot more expensive and limited there so we decided to head for Toronto. Funny enough my company is based in Vancouver, but I'm 100% remote so still in Toronto.
Oh hell yeah about the property prices, I remember watching some property videos where the agent says "Oh I asked the owners to upgrade their cupboard handles so they used these beautiful crystal imitation handles and the price is worth 600k Canadian" and I'm thinking to myself, yeah, right, same handles are R2.49 from cashbuild
The UK is also damn expensive, the house I'm renting is worth 900k GBP new, but no way in hell I could afford to buy it. Need @AdrianH to build a guest house on his property for me. But in all seriousness, a 1 bedroom studio flat next to the railway line is 200k - that's 4 million rand for a POS apartment.
OP
AdrianH
Administrator
Maybe we can get away with a Wendy house.
cowbrains
Active member
For those that have left, have you ceased your tax residency in SA? I have a friend that got his clearance a couple of weeks ago and his bank froze all his accounts subject to review.
I still own a property and have my preservation fund still in SA. Is it better to sell and bring it all over as soon as possible?
I still own a property and have my preservation fund still in SA. Is it better to sell and bring it all over as soon as possible?
OP
AdrianH
Administrator
Yes
I did financial immigration just before the laws changed in March 2022 so that I could get my RAs out before the new law of 3 years waiting period became active I got my funds in the August 2022, so took around 5 months as it included various docs and tax clearances and Reserve bank stuff.
Then once that was done, I applied to change my SA tax status. That was relatively quick and simple. Had to provide proof I was living in another country, and had to write a motivational letter to SARS stating why I wanted my tax status changed. I think this took 6 weeks or so.
Note: Financial immigration no longer applies, its called tax emigration now which I believe is financial emigration and tax status all rolled into one (from what I have read)
Regarding your pal, the new (old) laws require that when you tax emigrate all your SA bank accounts become limited, ie: can't do international transfer is one restriction. I don't know if that involves freezing them for a period. During the tax emigration process, a "blocked" SA bank account should be opened by the "agent" you are using where the account has no internet banking, and all money leaving the country will go via that account and will be handle by an "agent" on your behalf. Every transaction may have a tax clearance process involved.
Oddly enough, as I was going through financial immigration and tax status separately, something happened where I have a "blocked" account, by I still have full unrestricted access to my Standard Bank account. Reading up on it, it sounds like when they were implementing the laws in March 2022, it wasn't clear if I could keep my unrestricted Standard Bank account or not. A few months later it was made clear my account should have been made restrictive, but I had already finished the process, so it remains unrestricted.
YES!!!
Forget about laws, interest, tax, and other processes, and just look at exchange rate. I came over late 2019 and at that time, the rate was around R19 to 1£. Three and half years later, its R24 to £1.
Is the property being rented out?
cowbrains
Active member
Thanks! I really need to get a move on with my admin so may reach out if I have questions (if you don't mind of course). Will be here for 3 years soon, so I can begin the process of moving over the preservation fund.
Regarding the property, it's a little complicated but no, not being rented out.
OP
AdrianH
Administrator
Sure, just hit me up.
MarioAna
Esteemed member
Good to see those who have made the move are settled in and enjoying new homes. Quite a big undertaking all things considered.
We did our citizenship test last month, which is pretty much the final hurdle to completing this journey. 4 years, a lot of money, some doubts, some tough times but now there's just a ceremony to attend and passports to collect and that's the job done. We haven't done the financial emigration thing yet, still have our RAs and some other investments going on. Can't beat the interest rates being given by SA at the moment but it's always coupled with the Russian Roulette ZAR exchange.
We did our citizenship test last month, which is pretty much the final hurdle to completing this journey. 4 years, a lot of money, some doubts, some tough times but now there's just a ceremony to attend and passports to collect and that's the job done. We haven't done the financial emigration thing yet, still have our RAs and some other investments going on. Can't beat the interest rates being given by SA at the moment but it's always coupled with the Russian Roulette ZAR exchange.
Kung Fu Porkchop
Regular member
I was contacted by a recruitment company from the Netherlands on Tuesday and they told me about how things work there and provided me with some information on the skills they're looking for. I'm pretty excited about it and I hope things go well going forward. I've thought about emigrating to New Zealand, Australia and even gave Canada some thought. The Netherlands came up when a former colleague of mine moved beginning of the year. I really hope I can find something there.
Y@YO
Casual member
I tried to leave several years back to canada, netherlands or usa via scholarships or immigrant work, bottomline is finances didn't allow or maybe I didn't try hard enough. Now in my mid-life phase I prefer familiarity and have family commitments.
I would still bounce given the chance (then plan to return) but it would have to be highly advantageous and the only 2 things that would make me jump now is a nice
and exciting work but I'll settle for not boring.
SA is very depressing (insert litany of woes here) and most of us survive via resilience, that won't chance after 2024 according to me. No watershed election can undo 30 yrs of calamity. But we choose to survive nontheless and I think that's cause we're a kind nation, broken but kind. Family and friends give each of us the will to fight. Belonging matters alot as a person ages, even ppl who emigrate seldom do so alone.
I would still bounce given the chance (then plan to return) but it would have to be highly advantageous and the only 2 things that would make me jump now is a nice
and exciting work but I'll settle for not boring.SA is very depressing (insert litany of woes here) and most of us survive via resilience, that won't chance after 2024 according to me. No watershed election can undo 30 yrs of calamity. But we choose to survive nontheless and I think that's cause we're a kind nation, broken but kind. Family and friends give each of us the will to fight. Belonging matters alot as a person ages, even ppl who emigrate seldom do so alone.
Still no intention to go anywhere, seen enough of the world to know it’s not all magical on the other side.
My wife had a potential offer on the table pre-Covid through her company to move to New Zealand which was about the only way we ever consider going about.
Funny thing is Covid dissuaded us from the entire concept seeing how badly the entire world handled that.
My wife had a potential offer on the table pre-Covid through her company to move to New Zealand which was about the only way we ever consider going about.
Funny thing is Covid dissuaded us from the entire concept seeing how badly the entire world handled that.
OP
AdrianH
Administrator
What has this have to do with your decision to emigrate or not?
KenMasters
Super Moderator
I don't know, I feel like Denmark handled it pretty well. The necessary financial aid was provided to citizens and businesses affected by the lockdowns. Supermarkets, pharmacies and other essential stores stayed open, testing and vaccines were free, first lockdown was quite short and we were one of the first (if not the first) to end the second.
MarioAna
Esteemed member
It was super easy in Perth. Hardly anything locked down. Wore masks for maybe 1-2 months in total and even then only on public transport and a few other places. Beaches, parks etc all open.
Testing and vacs were free. Got to work from home. The support for businesses was excellent too, although a lot took advantage of the offerings.
Yeah I should have phrased that more as countries we would have been interested in.
But I also meant specifically how they handled foreigners at the time.
If we had just moved to or were in the process of moving to New Zealand when it happened we would have been properly ****ed like so many.
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