Looking at relocating to Capetown from London
May 3rd 2012, 9:15 am
#1
Looking to LA
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: London
Posts: 26
Looking at relocating to Capetown from London
Hi Everyone, This is my first post for a long time as things for me are pointing towards a relocation to CT (years ago looking at the US)
I'm an engineer in the film industry, based in London but support customers worldwide. I also spend a few years in SE Asia growing up in my teens so international travel and living is in my blood!
I married my South African wife just over a year ago, yesterday we had a 12 week scan confirming that we are full speed ahead expecting a child early Nov!
I've had my feelers out in CT for jobs, on the same day as 12wk scan, I speak with a company who are very interested in having me bring my experience to them, with skills and experience not readily available from grass root training over there..
So, now the logistics! I'm looking at a highly skilled visa as I can prove 12years in broadcast engineering and can certainly get a ref from a SA business explaining my skills are exceptional... failing that I've got spouse visa and apply for work once there (any more experiences here would be great!?!)
Shipping over to Cape Town from London?? Maybe looking at 5m3 with no furniture, selling everything bulky and purchasing over there...
Medical?? Any advise on moving over with pregnant wife?
All very early days, if this happens it will be in the next couple of months - support and info gratefully received!
Cheers,
Gareth.
I'm an engineer in the film industry, based in London but support customers worldwide. I also spend a few years in SE Asia growing up in my teens so international travel and living is in my blood!
I married my South African wife just over a year ago, yesterday we had a 12 week scan confirming that we are full speed ahead expecting a child early Nov!
I've had my feelers out in CT for jobs, on the same day as 12wk scan, I speak with a company who are very interested in having me bring my experience to them, with skills and experience not readily available from grass root training over there..
So, now the logistics! I'm looking at a highly skilled visa as I can prove 12years in broadcast engineering and can certainly get a ref from a SA business explaining my skills are exceptional... failing that I've got spouse visa and apply for work once there (any more experiences here would be great!?!)
Shipping over to Cape Town from London?? Maybe looking at 5m3 with no furniture, selling everything bulky and purchasing over there...
Medical?? Any advise on moving over with pregnant wife?
All very early days, if this happens it will be in the next couple of months - support and info gratefully received!
Cheers,
Gareth.
May 3rd 2012, 9:40 am
#2
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2009
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 20,821
Re: Looking at relocating to Capetown from London
Hi Gareth & Wife,
I haven't lived there for ages, so can't comment on having a baby and setting up life there. No doubt your wife is savvy and knows the ropes.
What do you have lined up in the film industry?
I wish you all the very best.
I haven't lived there for ages, so can't comment on having a baby and setting up life there. No doubt your wife is savvy and knows the ropes.
What do you have lined up in the film industry?
I wish you all the very best.
May 3rd 2012, 9:56 am
#3
Looking to LA
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: London
Posts: 26
Re: Looking at relocating to Capetown from London
My wife hasn't lived there for 13 years and then she was only 20 so not really independent in things such as career, medical & SA visas...
I don't want to count chickens (esp in public), if I get it i'll let you know
Cheers,
G
May 3rd 2012, 7:00 pm
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 108
Re: Looking at relocating to Capetown from London
Hi Gareth
What is it exactly that makes you want to leave London and come to Cape Town?
What is it exactly that makes you want to leave London and come to Cape Town?
May 4th 2012, 10:41 pm
#5
Nuts and Bolts
Joined: Sep 2006
Location: Palm Tree in the Snow
Posts: 2,116
Re: Looking at relocating to Capetown from London
Hi Gareth, and welcome. I am assuming you are British but was wondering if you are planning to have your baby born in South Africa. For a multitude of legal and financial reasons, it would be most advantageous to have your child born in the UK. Firstly, the nationality issue, your child would be entitled to a British passport because of you (assuming you are British of course), but there are far more advantages legally being born in the UK. JAJ (Moderator) could absolutely give you all the scoop on the legalities that may be something you need to consider down the road.
You will need to have excellent health insurance to ensure your wife gets the best pre/postnatal care she will require. Health care is very expensive and I assume you plan to pay for it yourselves. That could be quite a bit of sticker shock you have not anticipated. Some insurance company could either deny or charge exorbitant fees for coverage as the pregnancy could fall under a "pre-existing condition". At least that cost would be covered in the UK.
The visa issue is something that from our experience has been random in the expediency of that illusive document. That may be something the company that is interested in hiring you may pursue. You of course can apply on your own but you may find enormous frustration at the amount of time it will take to push through the red tape. If anything, I would suggest ensuring all documentation is addressed before moving over, as it could be a very long, frustrating and expensive endeavour otherwise.
Lastly, not sure when your wife visited SA, but hope she has full clarity of the changes that has transpired since she left. It does matter ultimately.
Good luck and may things work out well for you, yours and the new addition to your family.
You will need to have excellent health insurance to ensure your wife gets the best pre/postnatal care she will require. Health care is very expensive and I assume you plan to pay for it yourselves. That could be quite a bit of sticker shock you have not anticipated. Some insurance company could either deny or charge exorbitant fees for coverage as the pregnancy could fall under a "pre-existing condition". At least that cost would be covered in the UK.
The visa issue is something that from our experience has been random in the expediency of that illusive document. That may be something the company that is interested in hiring you may pursue. You of course can apply on your own but you may find enormous frustration at the amount of time it will take to push through the red tape. If anything, I would suggest ensuring all documentation is addressed before moving over, as it could be a very long, frustrating and expensive endeavour otherwise.
Lastly, not sure when your wife visited SA, but hope she has full clarity of the changes that has transpired since she left. It does matter ultimately.
Good luck and may things work out well for you, yours and the new addition to your family.
May 6th 2012, 7:02 pm
#6
Looking to LA
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: London
Posts: 26
Re: Looking at relocating to Capetown from London
Hi Gareth, and welcome. I am assuming you are British but was wondering if you are planning to have your baby born in South Africa. For a multitude of legal and financial reasons, it would be most advantageous to have your child born in the UK. Firstly, the nationality issue, your child would be entitled to a British passport because of you (assuming you are British of course), but there are far more advantages legally being born in the UK. JAJ (Moderator) could absolutely give you all the scoop on the legalities that may be something you need to consider down the road.
You will need to have excellent health insurance to ensure your wife gets the best pre/postnatal care she will require. Health care is very expensive and I assume you plan to pay for it yourselves. That could be quite a bit of sticker shock you have not anticipated. Some insurance company could either deny or charge exorbitant fees for coverage as the pregnancy could fall under a "pre-existing condition". At least that cost would be covered in the UK.
The visa issue is something that from our experience has been random in the expediency of that illusive document. That may be something the company that is interested in hiring you may pursue. You of course can apply on your own but you may find enormous frustration at the amount of time it will take to push through the red tape. If anything, I would suggest ensuring all documentation is addressed before moving over, as it could be a very long, frustrating and expensive endeavour otherwise.
Lastly, not sure when your wife visited SA, but hope she has full clarity of the changes that has transpired since she left. It does matter ultimately.
Good luck and may things work out well for you, yours and the new addition to your family.
You will need to have excellent health insurance to ensure your wife gets the best pre/postnatal care she will require. Health care is very expensive and I assume you plan to pay for it yourselves. That could be quite a bit of sticker shock you have not anticipated. Some insurance company could either deny or charge exorbitant fees for coverage as the pregnancy could fall under a "pre-existing condition". At least that cost would be covered in the UK.
The visa issue is something that from our experience has been random in the expediency of that illusive document. That may be something the company that is interested in hiring you may pursue. You of course can apply on your own but you may find enormous frustration at the amount of time it will take to push through the red tape. If anything, I would suggest ensuring all documentation is addressed before moving over, as it could be a very long, frustrating and expensive endeavour otherwise.
Lastly, not sure when your wife visited SA, but hope she has full clarity of the changes that has transpired since she left. It does matter ultimately.
Good luck and may things work out well for you, yours and the new addition to your family.
The reason for the move and to have the child in SA is due to the fact ALL her family is there, we have little to no support here...
We're looking into the medical aid issues at the moment, we're fine and understand it could cost us on average £3-5K, we're contacting the hospital in question to see what the score is.
I'm fully British, my wife is SA with recent British citizenship via length of time here etc.
I'm interested in the legal stuff, although I cant see at the moment what could be an issue other than registering the birth and applying for UK and SA passport - if someone can tell me more that would be great (I'll have a search around too!)
We're going with the fact that her family around is more important than having a free birth here. As long as medical aid covers her and baby for non birth related issues I believe at the moment we'll be fine!
I'm intrigued about the red tape on the visa. If all docs are in order, I's dotted and T's crossed where does the red tape start? I'll get the letter from the company I'm looking to work with, i'm a specialist in the industry so the highly skilled part should be easy to prove..
Regards,
Gareth.
May 6th 2012, 7:18 pm
#7
Looking to LA
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: London
Posts: 26
Re: Looking at relocating to Capetown from London
Also on the Q about the last time my wife was there... she was there for 4 weeks early this year and we've been over there 6 times in 3 years inc a month for our wedding.
This may not be a permanent relocation, who knows?! At the moment we're looking at a number of years and then seriously look at career, lifestyle and schooling etc.
All we know is the priority is a SA birth with 20+ family members around, if Job & finances allow. The alternative is to accept a decent job here and peruse the career path upwards in the UK...
This may not be a permanent relocation, who knows?! At the moment we're looking at a number of years and then seriously look at career, lifestyle and schooling etc.
All we know is the priority is a SA birth with 20+ family members around, if Job & finances allow. The alternative is to accept a decent job here and peruse the career path upwards in the UK...
May 7th 2012, 3:51 am
#8
Nuts and Bolts
Joined: Sep 2006
Location: Palm Tree in the Snow
Posts: 2,116
Re: Looking at relocating to Capetown from London
Hi Gareth, wish I had more time to impart more info but hands full recovering from surgery. It has been hashed out on the Africa forum so you should be able to find quite a bit of info. You could also send a pm to JAJ and ask for his input. There is a wealth of legal info on this site. All I will tell you is this, if you think red tape in the UK is challenging, this one will offer you a whole other ball game. Still, I don't want to impart any negativity here but my feeling towards SA has changed considerably and it was a place I once considered my home (am Welsh born though). I was back there last month and after spending time with family and friends, I feel very fortunate to be in the US. The quality of life for those of my nearest and dearest has deteriorated, and in some cases quite drastically. However saying that, there are many (especially if you have the money) and a demand for your qualified skills, have an excellent quality of life. I could go on about crime etc. but I assume you have already had that info in heaps. Wish you well.
May 7th 2012, 5:03 am
#9
.
Joined: Apr 2007
Location: Home, I think.
Posts: 9,217
Re: Looking at relocating to Capetown from London
We're looking into the medical aid issues at the moment, we're fine and understand it could cost us on average £3-5K, we're contacting the hospital in question to see what the score is.
I'm fully British, my wife is SA with recent British citizenship via length of time here.
We're going with the fact that her family around is more important than having a free birth here. As long as medical aid covers her and baby for non birth related issues I believe at the moment we'll be fine!
I'm intrigued about the red tape on the visa. If all docs are in order, I's dotted and T's crossed where does the red tape start? I'll get the letter from the company I'm looking to work with, i'm a specialist in the industry so the highly skilled part should be easy to prove..
Regards,
Gareth.
Firstly, congrats on the baby. Sleep while you can.
A couple of things....
Medical aid will cover all costs for pregnancy and maternity assuming you choose the right plan. When we got here my wife was pregnant. Signed up with Discovery and they covered absolutely everything. The service was great - classic comprehensive is the name of the plan, and for me and the wife and 2 kids it is about £400 a month. Medical aid is a harsh fact of life. You simply cannot do without it and if you don't go to hospital it is a total rip-off. But - like insurance - you will be glad of it if you need it.
My son was born here. He was registered as a South African - my wife is also a Jaapie and I'm a Brit. We registered his birth with the UK embassy and he got his passport about 6 weeks later and is a full UK citizen. As Tegwyn says JaJ will give you the full facts but I would imagine the only issue might be if his descendants want to be British and are born outside the UK - but even that shouldn't be a problem I think.
Also - red tape. Be under no illusions...life is great, but dealing with South African government offices is, by and large, slightly less fun that root canal work. They are incompetent, lazy, inconsistent devious liars who will fob you off to avoid doing any actual work. This applies to driving licence people, home affairs, municipalities, the police and customs and immigration. You will get round it all, but you cant begin to compare the UK to here. The UK is heaven on earth compared to the crass incompetence of SA public service officials. It isn't red tape so much, but the moronic idiocy of those applying the rules that is the problem. Read previous posts for examples. We've been through most of the challenges you face so shout if you need specific information.
Good luck. Cape Town is beautiful - you'll have a blast.
Ed
May 7th 2012, 4:37 pm
#10
Looking to LA
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: London
Posts: 26
Re: Looking at relocating to Capetown from London
Hey Gareth,
Firstly, congrats on the baby. Sleep while you can.
A couple of things....
Medical aid will cover all costs for pregnancy and maternity assuming you choose the right plan. When we got here my wife was pregnant. Signed up with Discovery and they covered absolutely everything. The service was great - classic comprehensive is the name of the plan, and for me and the wife and 2 kids it is about £400 a month. Medical aid is a harsh fact of life. You simply cannot do without it and if you don't go to hospital it is a total rip-off. But - like insurance - you will be glad of it if you need it.
My son was born here. He was registered as a South African - my wife is also a Jaapie and I'm a Brit. We registered his birth with the UK embassy and he got his passport about 6 weeks later and is a full UK citizen. As Tegwyn says JaJ will give you the full facts but I would imagine the only issue might be if his descendants want to be British and are born outside the UK - but even that shouldn't be a problem I think.
Also - red tape. Be under no illusions...life is great, but dealing with South African government offices is, by and large, slightly less fun that root canal work. They are incompetent, lazy, inconsistent devious liars who will fob you off to avoid doing any actual work. This applies to driving licence people, home affairs, municipalities, the police and customs and immigration. You will get round it all, but you cant begin to compare the UK to here. The UK is heaven on earth compared to the crass incompetence of SA public service officials. It isn't red tape so much, but the moronic idiocy of those applying the rules that is the problem. Read previous posts for examples. We've been through most of the challenges you face so shout if you need specific information.
Good luck. Cape Town is beautiful - you'll have a blast.
Ed
Firstly, congrats on the baby. Sleep while you can.
A couple of things....
Medical aid will cover all costs for pregnancy and maternity assuming you choose the right plan. When we got here my wife was pregnant. Signed up with Discovery and they covered absolutely everything. The service was great - classic comprehensive is the name of the plan, and for me and the wife and 2 kids it is about £400 a month. Medical aid is a harsh fact of life. You simply cannot do without it and if you don't go to hospital it is a total rip-off. But - like insurance - you will be glad of it if you need it.
My son was born here. He was registered as a South African - my wife is also a Jaapie and I'm a Brit. We registered his birth with the UK embassy and he got his passport about 6 weeks later and is a full UK citizen. As Tegwyn says JaJ will give you the full facts but I would imagine the only issue might be if his descendants want to be British and are born outside the UK - but even that shouldn't be a problem I think.
Also - red tape. Be under no illusions...life is great, but dealing with South African government offices is, by and large, slightly less fun that root canal work. They are incompetent, lazy, inconsistent devious liars who will fob you off to avoid doing any actual work. This applies to driving licence people, home affairs, municipalities, the police and customs and immigration. You will get round it all, but you cant begin to compare the UK to here. The UK is heaven on earth compared to the crass incompetence of SA public service officials. It isn't red tape so much, but the moronic idiocy of those applying the rules that is the problem. Read previous posts for examples. We've been through most of the challenges you face so shout if you need specific information.
Good luck. Cape Town is beautiful - you'll have a blast.
Ed
I've encountered Home affairs, the SAP and banks while setting up bank accounts, moving money and getting married out there... we applied for a full marriage certificate 14months ago in London, I've given up now (although that because I'm not that bothered as don't need it really...)
As this is totally a move for Family and Wife/Baby I'll jump through hoops!
All I'm worried about at the moment is 1: sorting out medical cover for any unforeseen issues above the R30,000 I know we will have to pay 2: making sure that if/when the job offer comes, I can start the wheels rolling and start the process of relocating, by giving notices here, selling up and getting us and the Cat over there (Cat is another can of worms, in the process of getting the DEFRA passport sorted so he can come back to UK with no Quarantine... this being possible with law change Jan this year!)
I've got a Discovery broker looking into the Maternity/health issue. Discovery have said now way to cover the birth, the finer details of covering unforeseen pregnancy related issues to come.
I'm going to South Africa house to talk to a human behind glass to get firm options for Visas, I should hopefully have all paperwork needed for skills/spouse visa in a week or so!
Cheers,
Gareth.
