What you want:
All your earthly possessions to arrive safe and sound halfway across the world - undamaged...
What you think:
It's very expensive, everything is going to break, and it probably won't arrive in Australia.
What they DON'T tell you:
We relocated with Crown International Relocations instead of Biddulphs for the simple reason that Crown offered an end-to-end Crown owned service, whereas Biddulphs used other service providers.
Crown was excellent.
The packing staff were great and thorough, and when we received our goods that were shipped on 20 October on 27 December, NOTHING was damaged or broken. Incredible, considering our whole house had gone via truck to Durban, South Africa, into storage, onto a container ship to Singapore, into storage, onto another ship to Melbourne, into storage, through customs, transferred to a new container, and eventually unpacked at our new home. Even our 40 plus bottles of wine and 80 or so glasses made it. Well done to them!
The packing process took 2 days and they pack it all. Loading is on the third day and takes most of the day.
Make sure you remove all animal, plant, untreated wood and grasses from your stuff. Don't try to sneak anything through. Customs and immigration unpacks the container into a new one on arrival in Australia, and they'll find most things. We had a honeymoon photo album with a banana leaf stuck on the front cover and they destroyed this - we didn't sneak it in, just overlooked it in the chaos.
Another thing to get used to - it took 8 guys to load the truck in SA, plus a driver to watch, and 2 guys to unload, one of which was the driver - bit more efficient and cost effective, methinks...
Showing posts with label Immigration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Immigration. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
WTF - everybody hates Paperwork
What you want:
You need to wrap up your local country affairs and get started on what you need in the new country.
What you think:
It's not much, I'll tackle it later...
What they DON'T tell you:
Start NOW! We worked from May 07 to October 07 for about 2 hours each evening/day to finalise all the 'small' things, like the Visa requirements - see 'WTF - which Visa?' and more...
This included the English Language Test,
the recognition of prior learning,
original copies of your qualifications from the University, Tech, etc,
recent work experience,
letters of reference for the last few jobs,
health checks (a rip-off),
character references,
unabridged birth certificate and marriage certificate (good luck if you're doing this in South Africa), police clearance certificates which required fingerprints (take these to Pretoria yourself, don't rely on the post to get them there - when you collect the certificate you'll understand why),
certified copies of every document you have such as all the above-mentioned (hours long wait at the police station),
wrap up insurance policies,
health policies,
health insurance,
sell your cars,
reduce your cellphone account to the lowest balance so you can buy yourself out (there's no way out of these contracts),
cancel your satellite tracking on your cars (also no way out of the contract, so sell the car with the tracking),
cancel your telephone and internet accounts,
cancel your TV Licence,
decide on how much furniture you're taking with you,
sell the rest while trying not to get conned through the JunkMail,
finalise your tax,
get a tax clearance certificate for money you want to take out the country,
sell the house,
sell any toys - Jetski, boat, etc,
fix up any little things in the house you're selling,
get rid of your pets to a decent home,
say goodbye to everyone,
attend 100 farewell parties,
get to know who your real friends are,
arrange temporary accommodation for the time before you leave,
throw/give away clothes,
extra appliances, etc,
book furniture removal,
micromanage furniture removal,
book flights,
try to pack 2 months worth of stuff (that's how long the furniture and household takes to arrive ) into 40 kg's,
get on the plane,
and .....whew!
Arrive!
and then this all starts all over again, but in reverse... but that's for another post.
I'll go into some detail about the above and the little things I learned along the way
in future posts - stay tuned!
You need to wrap up your local country affairs and get started on what you need in the new country.
What you think:
It's not much, I'll tackle it later...
What they DON'T tell you:
Start NOW! We worked from May 07 to October 07 for about 2 hours each evening/day to finalise all the 'small' things, like the Visa requirements - see 'WTF - which Visa?' and more...
This included the English Language Test,
the recognition of prior learning,
original copies of your qualifications from the University, Tech, etc,
recent work experience,
letters of reference for the last few jobs,
health checks (a rip-off),
character references,
unabridged birth certificate and marriage certificate (good luck if you're doing this in South Africa), police clearance certificates which required fingerprints (take these to Pretoria yourself, don't rely on the post to get them there - when you collect the certificate you'll understand why),
certified copies of every document you have such as all the above-mentioned (hours long wait at the police station),
wrap up insurance policies,
health policies,
health insurance,
sell your cars,
reduce your cellphone account to the lowest balance so you can buy yourself out (there's no way out of these contracts),
cancel your satellite tracking on your cars (also no way out of the contract, so sell the car with the tracking),
cancel your telephone and internet accounts,
cancel your TV Licence,
decide on how much furniture you're taking with you,
sell the rest while trying not to get conned through the JunkMail,
finalise your tax,
get a tax clearance certificate for money you want to take out the country,
sell the house,
sell any toys - Jetski, boat, etc,
fix up any little things in the house you're selling,
get rid of your pets to a decent home,
say goodbye to everyone,
attend 100 farewell parties,
get to know who your real friends are,
arrange temporary accommodation for the time before you leave,
throw/give away clothes,
extra appliances, etc,
book furniture removal,
micromanage furniture removal,
book flights,
try to pack 2 months worth of stuff (that's how long the furniture and household takes to arrive ) into 40 kg's,
get on the plane,
and .....whew!
Arrive!
and then this all starts all over again, but in reverse... but that's for another post.
I'll go into some detail about the above and the little things I learned along the way
in future posts - stay tuned!
Sunday, June 3, 2007
WTF are the Australian Visa options?
What you want:
Get a VISA
What you think:
It's almost impossible to get into Australia...
What they DON'T tell you:
Firstly, the VISA process is simple if you can read.
Depending on your situation, the common Visa's are:
Migrants Visa - go to http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/index.htm
Workers Visa - go to http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/index.htm
Students Visa - go to http://www.immi.gov.au/students/index.htm
Take the time to read through the site. There's tons of useful stuff and they've done a great job. When you do apply, complete everything 100% as they ask. They are very specific about the requirements, so don't take chances.
Australian Immigration now have an online application facility here. It seems to be speeding things up a bit. There's also the paper route here.
The next big question is whether to use an immigration agent or not. We decided not to because of the work situation, but I would not have used one either way.
They seem to be reputable and have to be registered, but they charge HUGE (R30,000 to R120,000) amounts of money by the time you're done to simply complete the online application form , read the website and double check your forms for your lazy self. Some claim to fast-track the process and according to the Immigration web site, this is not possible. You decide who to believe.
Once again - THIS IS NOT COMPLICATED, JUST VERY PRECISE. Do it yourself.
Good luck and see you here soon...
Get a VISA
What you think:
It's almost impossible to get into Australia...
What they DON'T tell you:
Firstly, the VISA process is simple if you can read.
Depending on your situation, the common Visa's are:
Migrants Visa - go to http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/index.htm
Workers Visa - go to http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/index.htm
Students Visa - go to http://www.immi.gov.au/students/index.htm
Take the time to read through the site. There's tons of useful stuff and they've done a great job. When you do apply, complete everything 100% as they ask. They are very specific about the requirements, so don't take chances.
Australian Immigration now have an online application facility here. It seems to be speeding things up a bit. There's also the paper route here.
The next big question is whether to use an immigration agent or not. We decided not to because of the work situation, but I would not have used one either way.
They seem to be reputable and have to be registered, but they charge HUGE (R30,000 to R120,000) amounts of money by the time you're done to simply complete the online application form , read the website and double check your forms for your lazy self. Some claim to fast-track the process and according to the Immigration web site, this is not possible. You decide who to believe.
Once again - THIS IS NOT COMPLICATED, JUST VERY PRECISE. Do it yourself.
Good luck and see you here soon...
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
WTF - go looksee for yourself
What you want:
Move to Australia ASAP!
What you think:
You've been told 'it's very similar to South Africa - same weather, also love rugby, sunshine and braai/barbeque'
What they DON'T tell you:
Go and see for yourself. It's beyond me how anyone can rip up their whole lives, hop on a plane and go and live somewhere on the opposite side of the planet without taking the trouble to have a look firsthand?
Yes, it's expensive. Yes, it takes planning and time. Yes, everyone at work and all your friends and family get a heads-up on your intentions. Just do it!
We decided to visit Perth (everyone in South Africa tends to end up there), Sydney (everyone wants to be there), and Melbourne (heard good things from some Aussie friends). We skipped Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide.
We took nearly three weeks so we could spend a decent amount of time experiencing local life and try to lose the tourist feeling to feel the 'real life' in the various places. Not much time in retrospect, but enough to see the differences in the various places.
So here's what we thought:
Take a look at the map and see how close Sydney and Melbourne appear. That's 900km's you're looking at! roughly from Joburg to East London. Also remember that you have to drive at 100km/h - not 101 or 102, but 100 - and that's a loooooong trip by car...
So our impressions were that the weather is good, lifestyle is very different, very British history, mannerisms and ways about the Aussies, very clean, neat, well-organised country, very proud nation, very welcoming, very accepting of different cultures (only 30% of Melbournians are Aussies), VERY EXPENSIVE housing and a low, low crime rate.
The country is also booming so there's lots of work around and we felt we could build a future here filled with hope, security and a great lifestyle...
Move to Australia ASAP!
What you think:
You've been told 'it's very similar to South Africa - same weather, also love rugby, sunshine and braai/barbeque'
What they DON'T tell you:
Go and see for yourself. It's beyond me how anyone can rip up their whole lives, hop on a plane and go and live somewhere on the opposite side of the planet without taking the trouble to have a look firsthand?
Yes, it's expensive. Yes, it takes planning and time. Yes, everyone at work and all your friends and family get a heads-up on your intentions. Just do it!
We decided to visit Perth (everyone in South Africa tends to end up there), Sydney (everyone wants to be there), and Melbourne (heard good things from some Aussie friends). We skipped Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide.
We took nearly three weeks so we could spend a decent amount of time experiencing local life and try to lose the tourist feeling to feel the 'real life' in the various places. Not much time in retrospect, but enough to see the differences in the various places.
So here's what we thought:
- Perth - too far from everything, particularly given that my wife and I are in IT. If you're in the mining or resources industry it's probably good to consider, as it's booming at the moment. Also a solid 6 hour flight to Sydney and Melbourne where a lot of Australia's business happens.
- Sydney - nice if you're a tourist, but our (very limited) experience was that it's just another busy city. It seems very congested, loads of tourists, traffic is hell, very expensive to live and work there. Very beautiful.
- Melbourne - this stole our hearts. It's a spacious, well-planned, vibey and interesting place and has a bit more laid-back feeling. It sits on a 50km by 50km bay which is perfect for any watersports, has winelands all around it, snow skiing in winter only a 3 hour drive away and there's lots of sports, concerts, shows, restaurants, etc in very close proximity. Public transport is also excellent. The trams, trains and buses are clean and well maintained and generally on time. Also very well organised as is everything else here, so they have extra transport during major events as an example.The weather seems ok - it's known as four seasons in a day, but so far it's been great. Gets VERY hot sometimes with desert winds blowing the temps up to 40 degrees for a few days, then a 'cool change' comes in and the temp drops by 10 to 20 degrees in 30 minutes. Everyone always has a spare coat with them!
- Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra - we skipped these because Sydney and Melbourne are the biggest cities - around 3.5 million people in each, and these 3 cities where either too remote or too small to hedge our bets in the job market.
Take a look at the map and see how close Sydney and Melbourne appear. That's 900km's you're looking at! roughly from Joburg to East London. Also remember that you have to drive at 100km/h - not 101 or 102, but 100 - and that's a loooooong trip by car...
So our impressions were that the weather is good, lifestyle is very different, very British history, mannerisms and ways about the Aussies, very clean, neat, well-organised country, very proud nation, very welcoming, very accepting of different cultures (only 30% of Melbournians are Aussies), VERY EXPENSIVE housing and a low, low crime rate.
The country is also booming so there's lots of work around and we felt we could build a future here filled with hope, security and a great lifestyle...
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