CTtoAus Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 Hi everyone, I was so glad to find this forum and would just like to introduce myself. My husband and I currently live in Cape Town with our young kids, aged 2 and 4. This decision is a year in the making, and it has been an incredibly emotional process. We have now finally come to the point where we feel that we need to move forward, and have signed up with an immigration agent to assist with our application. We both work in Financial Services and according to our agent, our best bet is for my husband to aim for a Visa 189 as an Accountant, although he doesn't fit squarely in this bracket. We are hoping that this will allow us to move to Sydney, because of the obvious reasons, as well as the fact that we have a family member and some friends there. I am hoping for us to relocate in January 2017, so that my oldest can slot in with the school year. Whether this is at all realistic remains to be seen! I am looking forward to sharing this journey with the rest of you. Anel 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 (edited) Welcome, to the forum, I trust that you will find answers here to the many questions, that you are sure to have! Edited March 4, 2016 by Mara 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFreshStart Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 Welcome CTtoAus, You are in the place we were a few years ago, same geographic location (CPT) and our kids were the ages yours are when we landed, just ahead of my son starting school at 5, in Sydney, with a wife in Financial Services. Wishing you well with the journey, feel free to shout if you have any questions. Cheers Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTtoAus Posted March 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 On 04 March 2016 at 2:21 PM, AFreshStart said: Welcome CTtoAus, You are in the place we were a few years ago, same geographic location (CPT) and our kids were the ages yours are when we landed, just ahead of my son starting school at 5, in Sydney, with a wife in Financial Services. Wishing you well with the journey, feel free to shout if you have any questions. Cheers Matt Hi @AFreshStart Thanks so much for your message and for highlighting the similarities in our circumstances. I spent the weekend working through many of your posts, and I don't even know where to start in thanking you for the wealth of information that you (and many other members) have contributed on this forum. It really is priceless. I specifically love your philosophy on leading a minimalist life. For me, a difficult part of making the decision to immigrate (other than leaving my very close-knit family......wait, how am I going to do that again??) has been the knowledge that we will be sacrificing a comfortable life for one where we will have to get used to turning over every cent again. Partly because Sydney is so expensive, but mostly because both our careers have been built around the SA market, and I fear it will take many years just to get back to where we are now. Your posts have been invaluable in making me realise again that it is not the bells and whistles that will give my children a happy childhood and secure future and you have actually made me look forward to scaling down! I am still feeling very emotional about the decision and overwhelmed by everything that needs to happen in the year ahead, but I can see that this forum is going to be a shining light in the tunnel. Thank you again for everyone who takes from their personal time to support those of us starting this journey. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFreshStart Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 13 hours ago, CTtoAus said: Hi @AFreshStart Thanks so much for your message and for highlighting the similarities in our circumstances. I spent the weekend working through many of your posts, and I don't even know where to start in thanking you for the wealth of information that you (and many other members) have contributed on this forum. It really is priceless. I specifically love your philosophy on leading a minimalist life. For me, a difficult part of making the decision to immigrate (other than leaving my very close-knit family......wait, how am I going to do that again??) has been the knowledge that we will be sacrificing a comfortable life for one where we will have to get used to turning over every cent again. Partly because Sydney is so expensive, but mostly because both our careers have been built around the SA market, and I fear it will take many years just to get back to where we are now. Your posts have been invaluable in making me realise again that it is not the bells and whistles that will give my children a happy childhood and secure future and you have actually made me look forward to scaling down! I am still feeling very emotional about the decision and overwhelmed by everything that needs to happen in the year ahead, but I can see that this forum is going to be a shining light in the tunnel. Thank you again for everyone who takes from their personal time to support those of us starting this journey. Hi @CT2AUS, You'll quickly realize it's not the material things that bring you life and security. You can't buy freedom, and honestly, until you experience that, it's hard to explain. I can't describe the feeling of catching public transport, day or nice, enjoy the local parks and beaches in safety, to not be looking over your shoulder, hiding your wallet and keys. I've let my guard down, often doing things like once leaving my bag and wallet on a wall (was putting something in my car and took it off), only to find it, untouched, hours later. I've left my keys in the door, even left it unlocked once or twice... I don't advocate this, but can you imagine doing that in South Africa? We have no burglar alarms, no fences, security bars, in fact we have a single lock on our door as it's illegal to place a deadbolt on a fire door in apartments in NSW, it actually INCREASES your monthly insurance premiums... go figure. Depending on your career, it might not be a huge step back, my wife moved with her company into the same role/position and has quickly been given more responsibility. After a year of being at home with the kids I'm now working part time, it was supposed to be 10-hours a week, but clocked in over 20 already, it's only Wednesday... It's a step back financially, but we have gained SO much more in family time, work-life balance, enjoying many FREE things. The city is always running some event, heck this weekend they are giving away FREE trees in the local park to try green the city, there are arts and crafts in the library ever week for the kids, along with story time, hundreds of parks, the cycle ways (just out cycling tonight), all FREE. We've not felt the need to keep up with the Jones's and it suits us well, we don't need a yard because the city is our yard, our smaller home is our place to rest and recharge before hitting the streets again, we love and feed of the city's energy, this coming from a bunch of Southern Suburb folks in Cape Town... Cheers Matt 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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