starfish Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 Hi everyoneI'm new on these forums, but have been lurking for a while. I'm 43 years old, work in IT in Cape Town, have a wife and a beautiful 18 month old daughter. We lodged an application for permanent residence (139 visa) in May this year. Once we have our visa (assuming all goes well) we intend to visit Australia sometime next year to "check-in" and investigate, and aim to actually move there around mid 2008. My wife's brother has been in Adelaide for 6 years (and loves it!), and her sister is moving there in Jan 2007, so Adelaide will probably be our first choice (my research shows it to be reasonably similar to Cape Town). I have a cousin who will be moving to Melbourne in 2008, so I guess that would be our second choice (of course we haven't yet seen these places!).My wife and I are fairly apprehensive about leaving our own parents and other siblings behind, and also taking our daughter away from her grandparents, so I guess that will be one of our biggest challenges. From what I've seen on these forums, this seems to be something that many S.A. expats battle with. These forums are a hive of valuable information to "immigrants-in-waiting" like myself, so thanks in advance to all.Regards,Starfish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gee Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 Hi there StarfishWelcome to this great website and the forumsMy scenario and that of my family's is so similar to yours...I also live in Cape Town, am in IT and my wife and I have 2 great kids ...our son is 2 and a half and our daughter is 6 and a half.We have received our visa's (based on my IT skills) and PR due to the fact that my Father lives in Melbourne so we also were scored on family sponsorship.We will be settling in Melbourne as well.The thoughts you and you wife are going through is exactly what we are experiencing as we have both of our families in Cape Town and everyone is real close.But, we must make our move, deep in our hearts we truly know it's for the best and the reasons why are many.We are, as you also feel really apprehensive about leaving our family and our kids cousins...it's tough, real tough...If you would like chat further you can PM me. Seeing we both are from Cape Town and are in similar industries we can share thoughts and the fact that we have gone through the whole application process maybe I can share some tips with youcheersGavin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 Hi StarfishMay I say welcome and hello again! Hope you find all the answers you are looking for here!Mara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chatterbug Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 Hey Starfish, welcome and it's great to have you around. Good luck with it allC'BUG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 G'day Scott, I think that I'd be apprehensive of leaving my parents behind in a place like South Africa where there is so much uncertainty, particularly for the older folk from what I hear South Africans saying. I live in the Adelaide Hills immediately behind the city of Adelaide to the east and personally know South Africans that have lived here many years and are well integrated into our Aussie community. If all your brothers and sisters are living overseas, then you'll find the "Family Re-Union Program" available to bring your mum and dad out here to Australia to live permanently in Australia near you guys. Your kids will have their grand parents around again. . . . . . so . . . . all is not lost in emigrating to Australia. Hopefully, you will get your brothers and sisters to visit you for a month or so and discover how relaxed and easy-going South Australia is and get them interested in living here also. Remember . . . . where there's a will, there's a way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacoE Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 G'day Scott, I think that I'd be apprehensive of leaving my parents behind in a place like South Africa where there is so much uncertainty, particularly for the older folk from what I hear South Africans saying. I live in the Adelaide Hills immediately behind the city of Adelaide to the east and personally know South Africans that have lived here many years and are well integrated into our Aussie community. If all your brothers and sisters are living overseas, then you'll find the "Family Re-Union Program" available to bring your mum and dad out here to Australia to live permanently in Australia near you guys. Your kids will have their grand parents around again. . . . . . so . . . . all is not lost in emigrating to Australia. Hopefully, you will get your brothers and sisters to visit you for a month or so and discover how relaxed and easy-going South Australia is and get them interested in living here also. Remember . . . . where there's a will, there's a way!Bob (sorry Starfish for invading your thread!), is the Familty re-union program one of the visa types? This is the one aspect everybody on the forum touches on in terms of being the one single thing that makes moveing so difficult and yet the program you mention does not seem to pop-up anywhere else at all.Jaco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starfish Posted November 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 Hi BobFair comment - and indeed I am apprehensive of this, however my mother is a year short of eighty, and feels that such a big move would be too much for her at this stage of her life. My wife's mother is younger, and is quite keen - but we are not having much luck finding a suitable visa. This is the first time I've heard of the Family Reunion Program - I'll certainly check it out.At the very worst, I guess we could bring them over for annual holidays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 There used to be a program called the "family re-union program" where you could apply to bring out your old close relatives if nobaody in your old home country was around to look after them any longer.I don't know if it's been stopped, but it ran for many years since it started in the 1970s.Ask you Australian migration agent or the Austn Immigration Service what happened to it and if there's anything alike to the scheme nowadays.Maybe the old folk just like to stay where life is familiar to them in their last days. It is a big "ask" to get them to adjust to a new part of the world, although Australia will not be so alien to them as the younger generation. I met a number of older South Africans in South Africa, in 1985, that remember the Australians in the War and told me of their experiences with them. They seemed to like the Aussies, although I was told they (the Aussies) had a reputation of being pretty rough and ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bronwyn Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 Check out Booklet 3 (Parent migration) and Booklet 4 (Other family migration) of the DIMIA website, Form1126i. http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1126i.pdfIs this what you are looking for?Bronwyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacoE Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 Check out Booklet 3 (Parent migration) and Booklet 4 (Other family migration) of the DIMIA website, Form1126i. http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1126i.pdfIs this what you are looking for?BronwynHmmm.. thanks, so a scheme of sorts still exists - not that easy to get your parents in Aus as one might have hoped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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