Resident Return Visas and immigration costs (May 2019)

[Naturelovers]

Decided to give back to the forum, although we're set to arrive only in June. Prices below are then accurate for May 2019 and not much is new but could be a distillation of various other posts.

!!!Will update with a second post in a few months to see if the service providers below panned out - so don't take our word for it YET!!!

 

BACKGROUND: We had skilled migrant visas which we allowed to lapse more than 8 years ago, having activated the visas by entry but eventually not immigrating at that time.

One of us was offered a position in Melbourne in January with an urgent start date, and we were advised by the employer to run both 189 Visa and Resident Return Visa (155/157) applications in parallel.

By end March we were invited to apply for 189 (by May), having completed the English tests (PTE Academic in Sandton), medicals and (expensive) skills assessments via Engineers Australia and CA ANZ, however we took the gamble not to cancel the Resident Return Visa (RRV) applications yet and the RRVs were granted two weeks later - at the last moment of the ~70 days processing time and after following up via email (which you are only allowed to do when processing time has expired). This re-instated permanent residency with first entry within 1 year of grant.

It is then possible, with proof of significant ties of benefit (letters from prospective employer, proof of continued education in SA etc.) to have re-instated a visa that lapsed .

It was also uncertain how much of the info for the 189 was taken into account in the resident return visa evaluation, as this may have assisted to a greater degree.

We did not make use of a migration agent, but it took a lot of footwork to substantiate the "significant ties of benefit" claim.

 

FLIGHTS / TICKETS:

To get cheaper one way tickets, direct flight to Sydney and then on to Melbourne with Qantas providing an increased 40kg per person baggage allowance,  at around R8k pp we  called on:

International Organization for Migration   E. southafricaoperations@iom.int   www.iom.int

 

MOVE:

We are making use of the larger move cube from www.sevenseasworldwide.com : costs of around R23k quoted for the cube and shipping plus around R4K expected on the other side.

We checked prices on e.g. ebay.com.au and found we could replace much of our furniture that side through a combination of selling stuff this side and the saving on the container costs (which was quoted at ~R80k). Will also be trying to get a small wine collection through, around 30 bottles, as long as the wines are older than 1 year it is apparently not a major issue.

 

PETS:

We are taking two small young dogs: Costs are high (allow for R40 to R50k total per dog even without kennelling in SA). The 10 days quarantine in Melbourne and import permit alone is R22k per dog and flights are R8k per dog. We had to leave a dog which is now 12 years old and not allowed travel with family. The pet immigration process must start around 6 months prior. We are making use of www.menlynkennels.co.za also known as Mooikloof Companion Animal Center or Menlyn Pet Relocations. To keep kenneling costs down family will be taking care of the dogs until their flights a month after we have left.

 

FINANCIAL EMIGRATION:

We approached a financial emigration company (we have Retirement Annuities, a Pension fund and a couple of buy-to-let apartments) - the quotes came to R35-45k per person.

We're now going the route of using the Immigration toolkit from Expatri8.com ; Claire has been very helpful and we will now be doing the bulk of the Fin. emigration from a new address in Aus rather than trying to push from within SA. The toolkit cost $235 (~R3.5K) and is clearly laid out  with steps. Get you SARS efiling  and online banking in order if going the  financial emigration route from overseas.

The toolkit advises to use FNB, which one of us had and it took 20 mins in the branch to open a cheque account for the other and a global currency account in AUD for both.

With that proceeds from selling the house and cars can be taken out under the R1 million discretionary allowance per year per person to help initial set up once there.

 

ACCOUNTS:

Telkom nearly wanted R13K in penalties for a new fiber contract which they fortunately had not yet implemented, so could could cancel without having to pay extra.

Vodacom also wanted to penalise, so do check how much you have left on contracts and see if someone is willing to take them over if the penalties will be excessive.

 

SELLING PROPERTY: 

We had to sell two properties urgently and the low rates offered by Leadhome (flat rate of R40k) and threepercent.com  allowed us to list at better prices, and sell surprisingly quickly, while still getting out a reasonable amount.

 

SELLING CARS:

We used weelee.co.za which gave us above trade value and closes after a single day's online auction.

 

ACCOMMODATION:

To settle in while waiting for the move cube we decided on a "long stay" 1 bed furnished and serviced apartment in Melbourne CBD (after extensively checking the online ratings).

We have been using the Hotels.com app which gives significant discounts over listed prices (so called "secret prices" on the app for users with a few previous bookings), and also gives 1 night free booking at the average price of the previous 10 nights booked. We ended up getting a 28 night stay in Melbourne CBD "Paris End" right across the road from the new job at ~R30k which appears to be a 40% discount over advertised rates. This allows us to have a self catering 1 bed apartment with a bathtub, tv, wifi and small kitchen near work while we apartment hunt.

 

Hope this is of benefit to similarly nervous individuals.

Will update in around two months..

 

 

Edited May 14, 2019 by Naturelovers

[Naturelovers]

Update:

 

FLIGHTS / TICKETS: worked like a charm, do watch for overweight luggage (>R800/kg) and we were way over even with our 40kg pp; we were told it would be R26k for the extra large bag of 32kg.

 

Overweight luggage: Our parents used Diamondfreight.co.za to ship the extra 32kg (personal effects/clothing) to us - drop oiff at OR Tambo freight side; it will cost ~R4000 from OR Tambo to Melbourne Airport if you complete clearance at airport yourself (takes about an hour and requires walking between Qantas freight building to customs for paperwork). Having clearance done for you adds >R10k to the deal. May sure you go by vehicle as it is the only way to ultimately collect the luggage from the freight terminal warehouse, no pedestrians allowed!

 

Move: Sevenseas move cube took a while to leave SA, still waiting (estimated week of 23 Aug) so will take 11-12 weeks in total.

Ended up buying a fully furnished apartment (owners immigrated from Australia) so now will have to decide what to keep.

 

We read it in the forums but didn't believe - it really can be cheaper buying new / second hand (gumtree, amazon etc.)  so only bring what is truly irreplaceable.

Space is constrained, so most things here are designed for saving space, SA furniture tend not to have additional built in storage space, and people in SA are happy to have both a washer and a dryer as two seperate items (vs a two in one). Seriously consider getting everything this side as you have no idea how space constrained you may be, and may have to buy a specific shape / size to make things fit.

 

Clothes: If in doubt leave it.. Clothes at e.g. the DFO (Direct Factory Outlets - equivalent to large SA shopping mall) can replenish a wardrobe of branded clothing for the same or less than in SA - except of higher quality material (Autralian Wool Suits etc.) and in premium brands.

 

Also do put your hand up on the SA Facebook groups to borrow eg a microwave / kettle etc. short term.

 

Social: on Facebook the SA Business Network in Melbourne is great to make professional contacts and have once monthly events sponsored by SA expats who now run / are partners at legal / accounting firms etc. The SA social group does similar events, except for being informal and meeting at pubs.

 

Great APPS

 

Nobody but tourists pay full price.. so time your large spends to around e.g. the EOFY sales (look for furniture etc. sales End Of Financial Year around June/Jule & early Aug). 

 

For Melbourne do get the Eatclub app which shows flash offers of 20-40% off everything at various restaurants/ take away spots in your location;

 

For the rest get TheFork app for up to 50% off at various participating restarants (on food)

 

Download Ola (taxi/cabs) - a great way to get around and is in direct competition to UBER, as such their offers are great - especially from airport to CBD for new joiners - use our code 0J0YNBU to get $10 credit when downloading the app and then use the codes they offer such as OLADROP for $25 transfer from airport.

 

The largest office blocks here can have 40 000 people passing though them on a busy day and therefore have multiple cafe's preparing lunch,  the Hey You app connects you to offers in your area (often things like 30% off lunch or $2 coffees) - use code PWDJB6WQ for $5 credit on your first order..

 

Check ozbargains.com.au for an idea of coupons and offers (what things really cost vs advertised)

 

WINE: Alcohol in restaurants and even pubs is very expensive (they will happily pour 150ml ("a glass") and charge upwards of $12) , ordering wine online and in store is much cheaper (even for premium brands). Their heavy reds come from warmer climates and carry a punch in terms of alcohol and sugar, generally the red wines are sweeter than we were used to ; their cool climate wines are more familiar and we have moved our red wine preference to e.g. Pinot Noir and Merlot. Luckily European wines are widely available and can be bought and enjoyed for the same price (or lower) than local wines - so the selection locally is much greater. Expect to see some SA wines in some of the better restaurants (but be willing to pay a rediculous amount), generally no SA wines in stores.

 

Tobacco / SMOKERS: don't even think of bringing the habit with you.. people here appear to reserve their disdain for special occasions - such as someone smoking in their vicinity, and that is after having the offender already paying ~$35 a pack.

 

PETS: Dogs arrived safely, check and double check all paperwork as a tickbox left unchecked of whether the one dog was pregnant nearly caused a delay. The 10 days quarantine is tough on them but even our sensitive pups are bouncing back after a day. There are puppy pub crawls (pet friendly pubs restaurants), doggy day care and puppy play groups on offer here so better dog owners are better catered for than in SA.

 

 

 

 

[MaraJade]

@Naturelovers Thanks so much for these great tips! We are moving over in November and will definitely have a look at the shops and apps you suggested.

[JennyLeigh]

This very informative and to the point.  We’re still waiting for 143 visas but doing as much research as possible before hand