Thanks a lot!
Thats crazy, Its a huge expense to get to visa nomination stage, to have the rug pulled from under them must be devastating. Hopefully they can re-apply for a different visa.
We went for the state nominated visa and received nomination from both states we applied for so hopefully that counts in our favour.
The world is so topsy turvy now though so who knows, at the worst I hope for a “hold and wait while”.
resurrects topic
So, it looks like we are going to be taxed even more. Add the racial tensions and all the bloody crime and I really don’t know if it’s worth staying.
The problem is that I don’t really know what I can do about it.
Since we last chatted about this subject, have any of you decided to pack things up and go elsewhere?
Like I have said before, I would go if I could.
Same here. Financially disabled.
It’s only been 2 months. 
But still, I feel kinda bad for being able to pack up and go the moment I feel things are really bad, while others are putting everything on the line to even get a chance to do so. We’ll still be sticking around a while longer and see how things pan out.
I think it’s sensible to have an exit strategy, if you are able to.
We are not so fortunate as to have access to ancestral passports or anything like that. Now that the lockdown has relaxed and the IELTS testing centres have reopened, we’ll probably start looking at getting all those ducks in a row, so that if necessary we can leave quickly.
Here is an interesting question: what conditions would warrant using such an exit strategy? What would make you leave, quickly.
Well for me, it’s being the co-owner and registered director of a business in another country - in this case Austria. We therefore qualify for long-term Austrian visas (somewhere between 5 and 10 years, iirc), along with our households. These visas act like Schengen visas, allowing us to travel (but not work) in all Schengen countries. The same applies to our Republic of Ireland business (holdings company), which is even easier to visit due to no visa requirements by South African citizens. So I’m privileged in that sense.
But, to be quite honest, the opportunities to exit the country are everywhere if you have the right network. Our Austrian GM is an ex-pat South African who’s travelled to 60+ countries and lived in around 6. He knows all the ins and outs of visas and stay requirements and knows who to talk to and what to say to get things arranged ASAP. One doesn’t have to spend a fortune to exit the country - just putting your feelers out, building some relationships and taking a few calculated risks can land you a comfortable new life in a land far, far away.
I guess once you’re in a new country you’d adapt fast enough. I just can’t decide where I would want to go.
You forgot to colour North America red…
And the middle east and Russia
I recommend the Pearson tests instead if your country of choice accepts those scores.
Zero chance of human error when it comes to marking and you get your marks very soon after the test.
Do some practice tests here.
Well it seems South Africans fit in extremely well in Oz and NZ, I have so many friends in both places, they are essentially the new South Africa these days.
No mistake, large parts of North America is habitable (yes they have a knobjockey running it, but you have Cyril)
I wouldn’t mind looking at alternatives, but we’re somewhat stuck while all the parents (or rather, almost all) are still alive. I just don’t know where with the world being so crazy these days.
Europe and Canada is a no-go for us, Australia is full of Australians, Botswana is apparently very difficult to get citizenship which pretty much just leave New Zealand. I just had a look at one or two questions from those entry tests that Brad posted above and yeah, my wife would never pass those (even though she is English).
So for the time being we’re stuck. I’ll maybe start looking to see what the possibilities are for opening a branch in New Zealand and start marketing our software there for a plan B for “one day”.
The whole reason for opening a branch of our company was to have a “plan B”. We don’t have any products (yet) and purely provide consulting services and managed to build a successful enough business on it. Austria happened to present opportunities for us and the process worked out quite smoothly for us…
Edit: to be clear, we technically created a brand new company in Austria. The only catch was the startup capital needed to register the company, which amounted to €15k which had to be paid directly from the registered directors’ bank accounts. So there was a little investment needed to get the company registered. It did, however, give us access to long-term Austrian visas which act as Schengen visas for travel purposes.
The 15k, is it at least in your bank account that side or is it paid to someone?
It can be used as operational funds to run the business. But yes, it’s in our bank account that side.
