Schutte's Journey

[debbieschutte]

Ok so I've been putting this (the telling of our story) off because firstly I thought I wouldn't have the time to answer and keep the journal up to date but now I have the worlds time because we fly to Perth in 18 days time, our house has been sold, our furniture is packed up and has sailed on the 28th of December, we are staying in a family members home with just 2 suitecases each and just a few loose ends to take care of so here goes....

During September 2012 I yes I (not hubby), decided to look into emigrating to Australia. The reason - the crime, the chaos, Marikana, Julius Malema, the mines and strikes (my husband is in the mining industry - exploration of minerals), did I say crime and me being paranoid about my children being shot and hi jacked and and and.......... I tried to imagine my 2 sons getting a job in SA and could not. I imagined our daughters marrying some guy and then moving overseas in any case and leaving me and hubby all alone. All the reasons everyone does the big step!

A colleague of my husband who had emigrated to Australia en was living in Adelaide directed me to saaustralia.org and I couldn't stay away. Reading and searching everything everyone went through, for days and weeks I made my hubby crazy with all the info that I found out. Telling him everyone's story, how happy they were and how safe it was etc etc etc. Even though he didn't ever go onto the site he knew everything that was going on. Through all the reading and advice I got the name of Migrate2Oz and after carefully approaching hubby asked him I we could make an appointment with Reuven of Migrate2Oz to find out if we at least qualify. If not, of course then I would stop with all the talking of moving to Australia and if we did...... then I didn't know what then ...... (I should just mention this about my husband. He is the most positive person I know. He sees the silver if not gold around each cloud) So he did not (in the beginning0 really have this "big desire" that I did to move. Whereas I "gaan haal die bobbejaan (trop) agter die berg!". But he's so easy going and of course agreed for us to meet with Migrate2Oz.

On the 5th of October 2012 we made the appointment with Reuven. We didn't take any documents, no CV, no reference letters, nothing. When we stopped in front of their office I suddenly got scared and told my husband "ok liefie we are just going to listen and find out. We are not going to sign anything or make any hasty decisions" (because we are both quite impulsive at times). And guess what, after an hour long meeting we walked out of their offices, with the signed mandate and a dent in our credit card of about R5700-00 deposit. When I got in the car I'm sure my eyes were "so groot soos pierings". I couldn't believe what we had done..... but of course hubby being the positive guy that he is convinced me that taking this step is like taking out a policy - we could use it or we couldn't. A "ticket" which we could use or not. There was no turning back now.

I'm sure you are wondering how 2 people so determined not to make a hasty decision had signed that mandate.... what happened was this..... Reuven had a look at my hubby's qualifications and said that we would qualify. The only problem (huge problem) was this. My hubby was aged 44. He would turn 45 on the 8th of February 2013 and then he would loose 5 points due to his age. There was no other way he would be able to make up the 5 points and therefore we would not qualify on the points for the visa. He already haD to get sponsorship for extra points, he HAD to get an overall band score of 8 for IELTS, so there was really no way in which to get that extra 5 points. So this was the problem. From 5 October 2012 to 8 February 2013 (4 months and 3 days) was the time we had to decide if we wanted to emigrate, get all the documents together, pass IELTS, get sponsorship and all the other processes that needed to go through. So.... we DECIDED TO DO IT! Right there and then.

Now just a short description of my family.... me, hubby, son - ours (4), son - ours (6), daughter - mine (12) daughter - his (12), daughter - his (18) - hubby's 2 daughters were also staying with us permanently. And last but not least, mom - mine (68). So in total 8 family members!! Mom has been staying with us for the past 13 years since my dad had passed away and according to Reuven would qualify to be included in the visa. But of course she wasn't planning on moving to Australia. She knew we were going to "find out" about the visa. She loved her garden and granny flat and had been born and grew up in our town. Oops.... she was about to get a surprise.

We drove home thinking about telling mom, telling hubby's mom and dad, telling hubby's ex wife AND getting her permission (because there was no way in which we were leaving 2 of our children), our new business which had just started to really get going, our house and garden which we would have to RENT out (jip rent out, doesn't everyone think "I will not sell, I'm just going to rent it out - just in case...."??)

And the story will continue tomorrow.....

[RitaE]

can't wait for tomorrows entry

[KalahariHarry]

Just when I got into the story. To be continued....? Seriously...comon debbie, make a plan. :-)

[followmylead]

Man, I hate commercial breaks!

Can't wait to read the next installment ?

[AndreR]

Does anybody know where I can download the rest of this story? I checked all the pirate sites but came up empty

[SurferMan]

Ooiii, where's the rest of the story? Lol. C'mon, out with it!

[CherylC]

The suspense is killing me!

[rikamarie]

Debbie.. Great story.. where is the rest!!! Can't wait to read more!

[debbieschutte]

Ha ha ha you guys comments were sooo cute. I read them at 1:30 this morning and laughed aloud. That was after I woke up all squashed with the 2 little boys climbing in bed with me and hubby during the night. After we had taken them to their own beds I thought maybe I should switch off the alarm and get my laptop, make a cup of coffee and start writing my story again because I was wide awake. But the thought of the 2 little monsters waking up was scary so I lay writing and re writing the rest of the story in my head.

So here goes.....

** just a correction - we signed mandate on 16 October with Migrate2Oz and not 5th.....

When we got home we "summoned" mom.... as soon as we said "sit down" her eyes grew big and she sat down slowly. We told her about the meeting - that Billy qualifies, how much the costs were, all the details etc.. and then we said that we had signed. I cant even exactly remember her reaction but it was astonishment and bewilderment and scared all in one. At that stage even me and Billy had not gotten used to the idea so the only way that we knew how to comfort her was to say that we'll see... it was not 100% yet that we would get the visa. We also explained that she needed to definitely be included in the visa. As explained by Reuven she qualified because: 1. she was staying with us 2. she was a widow 3. she was financially dependent on us. If she was included in the visa she could always decide not to go with us. Or activate her visa and come back to SA and then return to Australia at a later stage. (making sure that it is within the 4 ? year period in which she HAS to be in Australia or her visa would expire). BUT if we didn't include her and she wanted to come at a later stage the visa would cost R500 000-00!.

She of course realised that she had no choice and the next most terrible thing she had to hear was IELTS!! Jip she had to write as well. Now like I said my mom is 68. She had last studied anything! 50 years ago. With our limited time to get everything in order I booked for the next available date to write IELTS. I got study material from a saaustralia member and we only had 1 week to study. We really did study hard and each day my moms anxiety grew. What if she failed and waste the R2100-00 paid? I really felt sorry for her but when I thought about the thought of leaving her behind I just pushed her and motivated her to remember what we practised and everything would be fine.

Long story short...... we did the test (with the nerves levels at about 1000 in the red) and she passed. She had to have a score of 4 and she received 5.5. I also passed but unfortunately hubby did not. He had to have an overall score of 8 and just missed it. So I booked his next IELTS asap.

In the mean time we told my hubby's parents (they didn't really believe we would go through with it so they were not too worried at that stage) - hubby talked to his ex wife and after a bit of squabbling (as every (good) or even not so good mother should do she agreed that she would sign for them to go. We drafted a contract with a lawyer wherein she gave permission for the kids to emigrate permanently with condition they visit once a year. She signed it and everything was going according to plan.

I had begun to apply for unabridged birth certificates, marriage certificates and Billy had started with the writing of his 3 episodes..... again IELTS and again he failed. I must mention he works away from home a lot and didn't have a lot of practise time. Then we realised with a shock that there was only one chance left to write, being over December and the 11 days one had to wait for your results the next IELTS would be after his birthday and we would have lost the opportunity to get PR. We discussed going over on a 457 but decided without Medicare, and all other benefits and the costs of sending the children to school and the risks of the visa, we would not go. :unsure: So whereas before I was very casual about this emigrating thing I suddenly felt trapped and could not stand the thought that we might not be able to go to Australia. The crime in the country was increasing and everyday reading about all the murders and rape and BEE and jobless people made me very determined that Billy would / MUST pass.

In the mean time where we both felt we would (if the visa was granted) just activate and then come back to SA - we had started feeling why wait. For what? The sooner we go, the sooner the children settle, our eldest daughter was writing her matric and she could start working there or study or whatever. And then this looming IELTS.... so I bought extra study material over the internet. We prayed and hoped and held thumbs and told everyone to pray. And hubby studied HARD!! And he passed. Meanwhile I was filling in forms by the dozens it felt.

4 days before turning 45 they lodged our application and then the wait began..... 8 people !! hee haaa .... luckily before the price increase.

By then the whole family knew - most of them agreeing that we were doing the right thing. But still not believing that we would actually go through with it....

Shall continue again tomorrow

[KalahariHarry]

Before I started reading I made popcorn.Havent even made a dent in it and guess what....to be continued???

[Jill]

Can't wait for the next episode...

[McCabes]

Loving it... please keep going!!!

You are SO lucky you got in before they changed to the individual visa charges...!!!

[debbieschutte]

McCabes you can say that again about the price increase if the 8 of us had applied after the price increase it would have cost an arm and a leg!!

Ok I'm going to keep the end of this story short and sweet because I can tell a story by "making a draai in die Kaap".... by the 4th of February 2014 we had lodged our visa application and on the 15th of February 2014 we received a CO. And then my bubble burst... the CO wasn't convinced that my mom was dependant on us and required proof that our house was registered on our name and not hers. I immediately sent the CO a deeds office search showing the property in our name. I was stressing my b#tt off. I couldn't even imagine my mom not going with because believe it or not but she was looking forward to moving. She was looking forward to rules and regulations in a country where everything worked (she is QUITE the perfectionist - loving order and things done in the correct manner). I couldn't get it over my heart to tell her there was kind of trouble. The other thing was that there was a huge catch 22 situation. If my mom was not included in the visa we wouldn't be able to sell the property because she would be out on the street. If we couldn't sell the property we would loose the cash needed for the move.

So I just kept praying that everything would be in order and that she would be included in the visa. We went for our medicals without any hassle. All 8 of us were 100% and we got our police clearances.

On the 4th of June 2013 my hubby was somewhere on a site when he called me. He said "are you packed?" and I was like ... I said for what! He said "we're on our way to Australia" and I couldn't believe it!! And then he said Reuven of Migrate2Oz had asked "do you want to take your mother in law or not?" which Billy said of course we do! And she was included!! 190 Sponsered PR approved - 8 people. WOW! We needed to be in Australia on or before the 12th of March 2014!!

I had kept detailed info on all costs from start to finish of the visa application - from passport photos to DIAC costs, and it was a lot of money. We had decided against activating our visa and coming back. Firstly from a cost point of view. It would cost our family close to R100 000-00 doing the activation trip. And then another nearly R60 000 for the tickets again if we moved permanently. Uhmmm no it just wasn't possible And secondly, we wanted to carry on with our lives. We wanted to get the children settled before they were too old. We were worried about our then 17 now 18 year old daughter. She had a boyfriend and what if things got so serious that he convinced her to stay as soon as she was finished with matric? No way were we leaving her behind.. Build further on our business until when? We decided to make January 2014 our deadline and sort everything out before then.

From there on my focused changed totally. No more thinking about any future in SA. Now it was just plans for moving, sorting out things, getting quotations for the move, flight prices........ So on the 13th of June I had already gotten a quote for one way tickets (it felt so weird booking this - ONE WAY!!) from IOM. The cheapest flight between 6 and end January was the 21st of January. So I booked and had to pay within the next 2 days (I think).

Now I just need to put this somewhere in writing because if I thing back of the whole process I cant believe how doors opened when we thought things weren't going to work out.

1. We decided just in time - with enough time - to visit Migrate2Oz and get informed that we were only 3 and a half months away from loosing the chance to apply for the visa.

2. Billy passed his last IELTS test when there wasn't another chance to write again.

3. My mom got included on the visa

4. Just 2 months before we had applied for the visa Billy's 2 daughters started living permanently with us due to their mother's circumstances which made it possible to also include them on the visa.

5. When we applied for the visa we REALLY did not know where we would get the money to pay for it all. We thought that our credit card would have to be patient :o. And somehow the business (well actually through the hard work of my hubby and a lot of marketing) picked up and the credit card wasn't necessary.

6. When we needed to pay for the IOM tickets a policy that we thought was worth not a lot paid out nearly the exact amount of the tickets. I got goose bumps when the guy told me the amount over the phone.

7. As soon as we heard our visa was granted we put our house in the market the next week. And guess what.... the very first people who walked into the house, as soon as the lady was in the kitchen told her husband "I want this house" and the deal was sealed. The contract was signed and they got the bank loan so we were in a bit of a jam. We were only flying in January and by the end of July the attorneys were busy with the transfer. Luckily the people buying were still living with their parents and agreed to wait until the 15th of December before they moved in. (can you believe that this also worked out!!).

8. The people buying our house enquired if they could buy some of our furniture (because they were still living with her parents). And of course this was a huge bonus for us because we knew that we wouldn't be able to take all our furniture especially the "non sentimental" kind of stuff. So they bought A LOT of stuff. Extra cash for us - yay!!

9. We had a lot of garden furniture and pots and a lady we knew from Zambia decided to buy all the garden stuff because it was excluded in the sale of the house.

10. The business which we had thought would not sell was sold to the same lady and her son from Zambia.

This is doors opening in a major way!!

On the not so bright side .... the family and their reactions when they heard that we had booked out tickets.... then they knew that there was no turning back. My mom and dad in law had come to visit every 2nd weekend. They were so at home in our home and loved the boys. She would bring her crochet and we would sit and chat and drink coffee on "the stoep" like friends and not daughter in laws usually do. My dad would read his paper, and this was their home every second weekend. I felt like a (and still do!!) criminal taking this away from them. Not to mention my sister.... my brother has been staying in Ireland for the past 18 years and now me and my mom were also going away. (I have tried to persuade to see someone to find out if they qualified for a visa for months and after a lot of arguing and "amper vuisslaan :wub:" she agreed only to find out that they did not qualify on either her or her husband's qualifications :thumbdown:) ( this was the most bad news that I had ever received in like EVER!!) ok but I'm :offtopic:again!

So then after the house was sold we got quotes from a lot of moving companies. In the end we decided to go with Magna Thomson. Chantal was the consultant and she was extremely friendly and even though they were second by price to Baileys we decided to go with them. They also agreed to bring their price down to what Baileys offered when I asked them. We booked a 40ft high cube for the 9th of December 2014.

Sorry thought I would finish by this post but have to go...... I took 'n "Kaapse Draai"

[Kanniewagnie]

Hi Debbie, Wow, just the other day we were having coffee in Centurion with amongst others HEOJ, OYBR, and Rika-Marie... hopefully on of these days I'll meet you for coffee in Perth!!

I resigned today to be able to start the sorting, packing etc. I had to give 2 months' notice. House not sold yet. We'll get there... (Laaste os kom ook in die kraal).

Sterkte vir julle!

[KalahariHarry]

Thx deb for keeping us entertained... trev

[Erik]

Glad everything is going your way

[McCabes]

wow that is really amazing!!! Love how everything worked out, then you know it's the right time and the right move.

So close now!!!

[debbieschutte]

@kanniewagnie yes time flies sooo fast. I cant believe in a weeks time we will be landing in perth in an hour. Before you know it it will be your turn. Good luck with all your final plans.

I thought to skip a lot of details from where I ended my last story. Things are happening so fast now that i want to keep up to date with whats happpening in the last days before we fly.

Anyway - our furniture was packed the week of 9-13 Dec and it was of course very emotional. On the last day I kept my pose but when the flood gates opened there was no stopping. We had been living in the house for 14 years so all the memories rushed through my head like a movie. But on Saterday morning when the we handed the keys to the new owners i had said my good byes and was ready to move on. I can honestly say that i dont miss my old house and cant wait to start looking for a new one in perth.

We moved into a family members parents house which was fully furnished and empty and we are so grateful for this huge saving where we have been staying for the last month.

We had been advertising our car a lot these past 2 weeks to be sold as the 2nd hand garages were making us crazy low offers. I was starting to get panicky when a family told us about a dealer in Pretoria. We drove there yesterday morning and luckily they gave us the best deal that we were going to get. Still not what we wanted but at least. That was a huge relief to have the money paid into our account right there and then. My sister brought us back home. Sitting at the back of her car felt weird. We literally now

only had our suitcases in SA.

Today we sort out our banking, have to pick up the $ that we ordered, see our bookkeepers fir the last time (yay!!) get out testament done.

O my goodness - its all really happening....

[McCabes]

I can only imagine how and what all you must be feeling!!! I got teary-eyed when you spoke about your house. We've also been in ours for a long time, kids' heights are measured on the wall inside the pantry, it must be so hard.

But I'm really glad you are feeling so positive about landing on the other side and looking for a new house to make memories in!

Good luck with this last little bit, hope it all goes well!

[joweni]

:ilikeit:Hope your flight to Perth is good. My 18year old daughter sobbed almost the whole way over when we left and I had to have more than a few drinks to keep going-she had left her boyfriend behind and they were both heart broken. 6weeks later she had made new friends and although she kept in contact with him over the years-they have both moved on. She is getting married to a lovely guy here in Oz in July-yay more grandchildren for us we hope. We sometimes talk about the flight over and have a good giggle. Good luck

[TammyP]

This was really awesome, thanks talk about things falling into place... hope we are going to get just as much of a detailed account when you arrive in Australia!!

[rikamarie]

Good luck with everything that needs to be done in the last week. And good luck with the first week in Aus. I must say, that was a rollercoaster of emotions for me and us the first week. Just remember, don't try and do everything in the first week.

Most important is activating bank account and medicare because you need your bank card as proof. Also immediately order a statement from the bank (posted to you). Also need that.

Then after you have your statement, apply for a proof of age card (Dept of transport). As soon as you have your proof of age card and bank card, and ofcourse medicare, then you can register for the rest, like a tax reference number (which you need to claim centrelink benefits), also your Ausie licence. And if you are planning on working through an agent to get a rental, you will also need the 100 points check. urgh, it was so frustrating for us in the beginning, not getting anything done because of the 100 points!

If you have questions, please ask!

[Hyperion]

Might be a silly question but what is a proof of age card and how is it related to the department of transportation?

Thanks.

[AndreR]

Might be a silly question but what is a proof of age card and how is it related to the department of transportation?

Thanks.

Drivers license card. Since there is no ID book in Aus the drivers license is one of the ways you can prove your identity.

[21yearsoutofrsa]

Might be a silly question but what is a proof of age card and how is it related to the department of transportation?

Thanks.

It's not related to the dept of transportation, but they do the admin, since the resource requirements are pretty similar.

A driver's license card has a photo id on it, so in Australia, as AndreR says, it is highly valued as a form of identification and proof of age, as it has your date of birth on it (medicare card has no photo). The only other alternative is a passport, but people rightly don't want to carry them around with them all the time. BUT there are some people who do not have a driver's license, as they cannot drive. These people also want a photo id to be able to enter a licensed premise. For these people a proof of age card can be applied for. They are much more prevalent among the upper teen years than any other sector of the population.

http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/licensing/card-18-plus.aspx

Edited January 14, 2014 by 17yearsoutofrsa