Heading off overseas can be a complicated business, as Ian Evans discovered when he and his family decided to move to South Africa.
After twelve months, hundreds of e-mails, countless phone calls, not to mention heartache, rows and bills, we’re finally ready to leave our corner of south west London to live in Cape Town.
We fly off in mid-August nearly a year after the idea of emigrating was first mooted over a glass or two in our back garden. Sun, sea and Stellenbosch wine, a vibrant culture, a new continent on our doorstep with a World Cup on the horizon – the decision was made. With hindsight, that was the easy bit.
So where did we start?
Initially we researched other people’s experiences via Google, magazines like Living Abroad and newspaper articles. We then drew up a battle plan divided into long-, medium- and short-term tasks. We agreed a departure date but felt frustrated in the early months about how little we could do. Now we really appreciate all the work we put in, because organisation is key when the time starts running away with you. Long-term, the obvious question was finance. We planned to rent out our house in Balham so we got a local agent to quote a price. We collated savings to work out income.
Next we employed a visa specialist in South Africa, and a relocation expert to advise us where to live and schooling for our children – Byron, 6, Jim, 4 and Bonnie, 13 months (all as of August). With schooling being such an emotive issue, we needed the support and knowledge of someone in situ who also happened to be an expat, rather than relying on the fairly basic school websites.
The visa experts have also been invaluable when dealing with bureaucrats who prefer spotting discrepancies to giving advice. The favourable exchange rate also made it relatively cheap. And so began the paper chase. We were advised to apply for temporary residence visas for Diane and myself and study visas for the children with a view to making it permanent when we arrived. They required a ream of documents including police clearance certificates, medical certificates, chest scans to check for TB and proof of private medical cover.
With our hands held by the visa experts, we send the applications to the South African High Commission. It took a few trips and a few fits of petty bureaucracy but the process was surprisingly smooth.
Meanwhile the relocation expert drew up a list of schools and areas to live. We paid a deposit on places at an international school in Cape Town, which teaches the UK curriculum just in case we want to return.
In the medium-term we had a lot of administration here to do. We switched banks to Nationwide, who don’t charge for withdrawing abroad and whose internet banking is excellent. We contacted a specialist money agency that makes exchanging larger sums cheaper. We started clearing clutter from the house via e-bay, charity shops, freecycle.co.uk and parents who generously accepted valuables and heirlooms.
We smartened up the house to maximise rental; cancelled subscriptions and wrote to pension firms, mortgage companies, the local council etc, to give them an international e-mail forwarding address; arranged shipping for the few possession we were taking; burned my CD collection onto an I-pod; bought flight tickets and told work and the school our boys were leaving. Oh, and arranged a ‘going-away’ party.
In the short-term, we’re about to cancel direct debits, get rid of the car, dispose of the last few possessions, move into a friends’ house until we leave, quit work and cancel the milk!
As we’re about to leave, we look back with rose-tinted glasses. But it has been a slog, tedious at times and frustrating dealing with officialdom both here and South Africa.
Has it been worth it? We’re about to see.
