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Emigrating from South Africa to the USA: Submitted to this site by a South African.
See also: Emigrating
from South Africa to the UK
1/ I got most of my data from this site :
http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/residency/index.htm
...it talks of the legalities of most of the countries South Africans are
interested in.
2/ Unless you have tons of money it would not serve you well to ship all your
goods over to another country. I did it once and it really isn't worth it. If
you have furniture, hi-fi's, CD's etc. then try and sell them off cheap and buy
new stuff when you arrive. Your relative salary in foreign countries will make
these things appear rather cheap
Here are some American bits of advice:
A/ These sites have some indication of what to expect in terms of average
salaries :
Http://www.workforceinfo.state.il.us/
Http://www.artistresource.org/jobhunt.htm
Http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos092.htm
B/ This is a cost of living comparison calculator (remember to work in
dollars) [you can also find out about home or apartment rentals here]:
Http://www.homefair.com/calc/salcalc.html?NETSCAPE_LIVEWIRE.src=homefair
C/ You will find all the work permit and green card info at :
http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/legpermres.htm
D/ Some economic stats about average household incomes :
Http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/income.html
E/ Search for apartment rental prices :
Http://www.springstreet.com/apartments/fyp/search/fyp_home.jhtml?Tc=pdfyp
F/ The differences between cities, and between rural and city, are just too
great in America to come up with a thumbnail sketch
G/ Everything hinges on what city you're going to and whether or not you will
live in the city or in the suburbs.
The one thing that I can't track down is the actual costs of food etc for each
city.
Here are some things that can act as a rule of thumb (confirm these rules
of thumb with a banker ?)
Don't allocate more than 25% of salary to rental/mortgage repayments.
The average salary over here is somewhere between $34,000 and $45,000 per annum.
If you're earning in this ballpark you'll have more than enough money to get by on. (depending on apartment-house rentals)
Getting any job here is very easy
Getting a specific job might be harder
Start thinking in weekly and bi-weekly wage packets for most jobs. Only permanent employees get monthly checks.
Any good job will come with some form of medical insurance. But ; they hate smokers and will test you before they cover you. Often, the company will cover the entire amount.
The pension that seems to be the standard here is called the 401(k). Where the company matches the employee's contribution. You get paid out if you leave before it matures. But that is relative to how long you work for the company. I'm not sure of the details.
Schooling is for free. But you will pay for after-school care. About $4 and hour.
Leave money in a SA bank account to gain interest. The interest rates are higher there and if, by some miracle, the Rand improves, then you'll win.
When dealing with embassies and other beaurocrats you will need original birth certificates, police records, marriage certificates etc. Certified copies are not valid. The implications of this are pretty severe....seeing as how it takes months to get anything out of Pretoria.
NB !!!! To prepare , you will have to ask Pretoria for at least 2 original (and unabridged) birth certificates of everyone that intends to travel. Often, one hands these things to the embassies and you never see them again.
A green card photograph is not the same as a Driver's License photo which is not the same as a passport photo which is not the same as an id photo. Go to a professional to get it done. The us embassy turned me back on this technicality. (and on the original & unabridged documents etc...)
You cannot do much via the consulate in Cape Town (although they will try and help). The only people who can finalize anything are at the us embassy/consulate in Johannesburg.
Be prepared for rudeness and queues in Johannesburg.
Be meticulous with your paperwork. They will give you hell about it. I cannot stress this enough....make sure your paperwork is immaculate. In fact, read immigration docs very carefully. Even if they are boring. These places are not as sloppy as South Africa is regarding paperwork.
Don't book a plane ticket before you have the final clearance documents, (green card/working visa), in your sweaty hands. Anything can go wrong.
Everything is about paperwork. Read the online instructions very carefully. Get the (free) docs from the us consulate in Johannesburg or cape town. Read and dissect them. If your paperwork is meticulous then everything should go fine.
You'll need a police-clearance certificate closer to the time of departure.
Don't get hung up on the costs, in Rands, of the whole exercise. You have to realize that the moment you start working you will more than make up for any losses.
General hints about moving
(which are differ, depending on whether or not things are permanent or not.)
In general ;
Things are cheaper in the USA relative to your salary.
This implies that there is nothing worth shipping over here. (unless it is jewelry or Antiques)....this means you can kiss off all your books and records and Apple Mac and clothes etc.
The truth is that you can get it all back at a fraction of the price just by going to garage sales (there are always garage sales) or by going to "thrift" shops. Their thrift shops are better than Edgars in SA. (well, almost). It's absurd how materially wealthy this country is.
If you feel emotional about certain material things then leave them in storage in SA and make up your mind later.
If you arrive with only the clothes on your back you'll still be OK.
You can use your SA credit cards over here....BUT you can't see the balance in them. So, you never know if you've overstepped the credit limits.
It's easy to open bank accounts over here.
It's more difficult to get a credit card. You have to have a job and a pay-slip before they'll give you one. (for obvious reasons.)
Go to your local AA branch (look it up in the yellow pages) you can get your international Driver's License there. (R40?)
They don't have ID documents over here. Your Driver's License is your ID. So try getting a US Driver's License as soon as possible when you're in the US. It opens many doors.
When you have a Green Card you must apply for a Social Security number as soon as possible. (their beaurocracy works a lot smoother and faster in the US.)
Strategy :
In the general scheme of things…
A Million of the local currency will buy your way into any country.
New Zealand is the easiest to get into. Which is why so many South Africans go there. There are only 4 million people there. But...the economy is not so hot at the moment. So things are a bit slow there. Nevertheless, having New Zealand citizenship allows you automatic entry into Australia. I.e.. All New Zealanders can work in OZ without any paperwork. Also, their currencies are interchangeable. New Zealand is a bit like paradise. Great scenery. But colder than SA.
OZ is more difficult but it is the country of the future. Technologically very jacked up. Very rich per capita. Great for children. Very empty. Only 14 million people in a land-mass the size of the USA (which has 250 million). It's a bit like the wild-west where anything is possible and anybody who has half a brain can succeed and make a ton of money. It's a bit like America was just before the gold-rush. But they don't want to be swamped by foreigners so they're pretty strict. THERE ARE NO POOR PEOPLE IN OZ...it's very freaky.
Canada is less strict. It's colder than the USA but Vancouver is right on the coast and is more moderate in climate. Some cities there might be a little difficult unless one can get by in French. Nevertheless, they need people in the remote areas and will assist one if one is willing to stick it out.
USA is very diverse but if you get into a good place then you'll be wondering why the hell you never left sooner...
...actually, I think about that all the time. I should have left SA when I was 18 years old. The only thing I miss about SA is the great weather in Johannesburg. I am now an expert on this. JOHANNESBURG HAS THE BEST WEATHER IN THE WORLD (apart from California, most of Australia and some places in Brazil...hehe.) Seriously, Johannesburg was great for outdoor living and sports. The snow can really cramp one's style. On the other hand, the people out here ski a lot in winter.
Also, get used to the possibility of never seeing Rugby or Cricket again in your life. And if you think that those sports suck then you have no idea how badly American sports suck. Nevertheless, you can get AT&T cable TV or Satellite and watch all the Rugby and Cricket you want.
I forgot to mention: if one gets a job over here just sweeping the floor the one can expect $9-$10 an hour. If you clean houses then it can go as high as $25 an hour. (calculate that in Rands!)
Don't get worried about the housing prices over here...the interest rates here are very low and what appears to be a large sum of money is actually very affordable. In fact, I would speculate that in SA one overpays for everything in rather serious way because of the criminally large interest rates.
See also: Emigrating from South Africa to the UK
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