Australian Visa Information

Emigration consultants and removal firms no longer need to market themselves, write Adele Shevel and Brendan Boyle.

Emigration consultants and removal companies report a big surge since late last year in the number of people leaving South Africa for new lives abroad.

The favoured destination remains Australia, with New Zealand a popular stepping stone, but skilled artisans, experienced professionals and highly trained specialists are leaving in droves for just about any country that will have them — and they’re not all white.

“The last two months have been quite depressing in this business,” said David Wilcocks, an emigration consultant at Four Corners Emigration in Cape Town.

“We haven’t done any advertising. I will not advertise for essential skills like nurses, doctors and teachers, although they do come in,” he said.

Emigration consultants don’t need to market themselves when the jobs pages of newspapers like The Times are plump with adverts from mining, engineering, pharmaceutical and financial services companies around the world.

“The Future is Yours ... in Australia” said a three-quarter page advertisement for Barrick, the Australian gold mining company, in The Times this week.

International SOS advertises for doctors, nurses and other health professionals for positions around the world and Profiled is advertising for engineers and geologists to work in the Gulf. The Engineering Council of South Africa estimated earlier this year that one qualified engineer was leaving almost every day and the Southern African Migration Project said in a report backed by the Institute for Democracy that nearly half of 1700 health professionals polled in a recent survey hoped to be out of the country within five years.

Crown Relocations managing director Ian Pettey said his removals company was handling three times the number of family emigrations it handled a year ago.

He said that at one recruitment expo last September, 9000 people had signed up to leave. “They’ve got their permits and they’re leaving the country now. Guys are leaving the country lock stock and barrel and locking the door behind them,” he said.

Wilcocks said his company had experienced a 500% to 600% increase in emigration inquiries since last year.

Wessel Ludewig of Global Migration SA said he received up to 180 e-mailed inquiries a day from people asking how to get out permanently or for a few years of exploratory foreign work experience. About 25 to 30 of those are serious inquiries from highly qualified people thinking about going.

A European diplomat told Business Times there had been a marked increase in the number of inquiries about exercising dormant citizenship rights. “A lot of people seem to be checking their status and trying to make sure they have a passport in the drawer in case the do decide they want out,” he said.

“During the first half of last year, we saw a steady increase in inquiries. That trickle by late last year became a torrent. It is now a flood”, said Iain MacLeod, the director of Protea Pacific in New Zealand, which helps South Africans cross the ocean.

He said the overwhelming majority were white, but there were increasing numbers of coloured, Indian and black African applicants too.

Wilcocks said the nature of the inquiries had also changed. People were now asking where they could go, not just whether they could get into Australia. While most used to tick just one or two possible destinations, they now try for more.

“Now it’s: find me a place I qualify for and I’ll go. Previously, they would say Australia or one or two of the others, nowadays they tick them all,” he says, referring to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US and Britain.

Jacqui Simpson and her IT-specialist husband Lee are trying to get into Australia, but will look at Canada or the US if they fail.

She said that after they started talking to friends about going, more and more had decided to start the process themselves. “We’re in the middle of the process and we hope to have our permits for Australia by the end of the year or early next year,” she said.

Crime was a big factor in their decision, she said, but career prospects, earning power, schooling for their three-month-old daughter and the Eskom power crunch were crucial considerations, too.

“Australia is a first-world country where everything works and you can be safe,” she said. After working in a number of countries, her husband is keen to consolidate his career as a software architect.

Wilcocks said the skills shortage plaguing South Africa was a worldwide phenomenon.

“I can move a bricklayer into Australia faster than I can a stockbroker. Trade skills are in critical shortage in Australia, New Zealand and Canada,” he said.

Also on the demand list are engineers, doctors, nurses and midwives. Teachers, while not in demand, could generally find a job anywhere.

Wilcocks said applications for business visas had soared from an average of three or four per quarter to 12 in the past six weeks as entrepreneurs opted to cash in and risk their capital on a new start-up elsewhere. He finds the increase in business visa applications particularly discouraging.

“The clients I’ve signed up have a turnover of R5.5-million a year to R200- million a year.” Some are trying to sell their businesses, others are just closing up shop and will start over.

“What’s more worrying to me is if you’re turning over R200-million how many people are you employing? For every one business owner that leaves, so many people lose their jobs,” he said.

“The highly skilled see no promotion prospects . A lot want to do better financially, but have hit the ceiling. And they’re sitting with the crime problem.”

Sandra Krysztofiak, the national marketing manager for specialist immigration consultants Hitchcock & Associates, said there had been a marked increase in inquiries for migration to Australia.

“Particularly this year, since December, but a general trend started two years ago. The biggest fear is what is going to happen further down the line in terms of education and safety.

“The crime and education possibilities in the country are the number one factors,” said Dawn Raphaely, an Australian migration consultant with 16 years of experience.

MacLeod said emigrants included many who had backed the changes in 1994 and also their children, a second generation who had not experienced apartheid but who found that they could not get into university because of colour quotas and even if they could, they were the wrong colour to fill affirmative action positions on graduation.

“This new wave of emigration is, I strongly believe, not going to stop. It isn’t any longer just middle-class whites, it is their elderly parents, it is their children in their late teens and early 20s, their coloured neighbours and the Indian family living across the road,” he said.

Brent Rouse, the general manager of the Durban branch of removal and relocation company Elliott International, said there was a huge exodus, but the situation was not as grave as people made out. Though Pettey estimates that emigrants outnumber contractors coming in three-to-one, the flow is not one-way.

“There are people coming in to take the places of those who are leaving, but they’re contract workers coming for a short stay,” he said.

- The Times

THOUSANDS of Scots emigrate every year, citing better jobs, more favourable weather and large ex-pat communities as their motives for the move.

But finance comes into it too.

As young families struggle to keep their heads above water with rising interest rates, taxes, property prices and cost of living, the lure of sunnier climes has never been stronger.

Some 32,000 people left Scotland in 2005 to join the 5.5 million Brits that now live overseas. Since 2000, 163,000 Scots have started a new life elsewhere.

Across the UK as a whole, a total of 200,000 emigrated last year, mainly to Australia, Spain and France.

Australia is welcoming these new residents with open arms - moving down under has never been easier.

On 1 September new rules came into effect that mean an extra five points will be awarded for passing a standard English language test under Australia's points-based immigration system.

Jason Hemmings, a director at Albannach FM, an independent financial advice (IFA) firm, said the biggest lure of foreign shores was a better quality of life at a lower cost.

"In Scotland, in most cases, both parents have to work and therefore need childcare. The growing cost of living is undermining what people want to achieve out of life. When the cost of living is less, it gives people choice about whether or not both parents work and where the children go to school."

Chris J Mackie, a financial planner with Acumen, agreed, saying: "The buoyant UK housing market, coupled with the low European Interest rates and cheap cost of living, has resulted in a large migration of Brits overseas. This seems to be an especially appealing option around retirement time when, with many pensions not producing sufficient income to maintain the required standard of living, people look for ways to free up capital from property. I'm sure the British summers also have something to do with it."

According to research by Selftrade, more than one in five young people said they would leave the UK if the government decided to abolish the state pension.

And there is now constant pressure on the younger generation to prepare for their old age. But more than a quarter of British adults fail to make any provision for retirement and nearly a third of women admitted to not making any pension plans in a recent survey by Alliance Trust.

Hyman Wolanski, head of pensions at Alliance Trust, said: "It is worrying to see that many in the prime of their working lives are most uncomfortable about their retirement prospects. It is clear that serious action needs to be taken to tackle the problem to break this trend."

In addition, young people are being priced out of the housing market. It has become increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to get a foothold on the property ladder. The average house price in Edinburgh is £288,000, according to new research from Halifax. Compare this to Melbourne, where it is possible to buy a three-bedroom detached house with parkland views for £130,000.

There are also tax advantages to moving overseas. For example, if someone with a buy-to-let portfolio lives abroad for more than five years they will not have to pay the usual 40 per cent Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when they sell up.

But consider your options before you book the flights, as Mackie says: "Care must be taken when owning property abroad and specialist advice sought. It is often assumed that property owned abroad is not subject to the British tax regime but for most, this is not the case. For example, most will still be classed as ultimately being UK citizens and taxes like inheritance tax will often apply to worldwide assets including overseas property and other assets.

"Taking professional advice can help to minimise the impact of these taxes."

Should I stay or should I go? The case for and against

FIVE reasons to stay:

• The NHS. Free healthcare is a something we take for granted in the UK. However much you moan about it, you would miss it.

• Free bank accounts. At present, bank accounts are gratis, as are authorised transactions. That is not the case in many countries.

• Culture. We often forget how rich the UK is, with fantastic galleries, theatres and museums. The world's biggest ball of elastic bands in Oz doesn't quite match up.

• Marmite, baked beans, good tea, Irn-Bru and potato scones. Even if you can get them imported, it just isn't the same.

• Sick leave, paid holidays, maternity/paternity leave. In places like the US, that is a mere pipe dream.

Five reasons to go

• Rainy summers, rainy winters, rainy everything. Workpermit.com received an unprecedented number of inquiries about moving abroad this summer, and a better climate is one of the top reasons people give when emigrating.

• No space. Many emigrants said they left the UK because they wanted more land, bigger homes and a less cramped way of life.

• TV licence fees. Small annoyances like paying for channels you don't watch and funding such channels to produce inane TV series is one of the pet peeves of those who dream of living abroad.

• Congestion charges. It cost £8 a day to drive in central London - more than £1,000 pounds a year just to drive to work has a real sting in the tail for those in the capital. And such charges could easily spread to Scottish cities.

• Waiting lists. The NHS may be a reason to stay, but the waiting lists are not.

'PLANNING TO STAY IN AUSTRALIA PERMANENTLY'

CHRIS and Sandra Ansell, both 39, emigrated from Edinburgh to Perth in Australia in May with their two boys Ewan, six, and Owen, two.

Both worked in Edinburgh full-time. Sandra was an IT trainer and Chris a contract manager in engineering.

They decided to move to the sun for a slower pace and better quality of life - and because the cost of property and living in general was significantly less in Australia. Chris works as an engineer in Perth while Sandra is not working, "taking her time to get used to the climate".

Their children quickly settled into the way of life and now see Australia as their home.

Jason Hemmings of Albannach FM was the Ansells' independent financial adviser while in Edinburgh and still keeps in touch with the family.

He said: "After Chris and Sandra had their second child they were under more financial pressure. Lots of things are more expensive here than in Australia, including property.

"They also had a hectic way of life and both of them had to work full time."

Hemmings added: "Chris is doing really well in his job and Sandra is having a good time acclimatising. They are planning to stay in Australia permanently."

In the longer term, a move overseas can make sense for families like the Ansells.

One benefit is that if people are actually domiciled abroad they will not be subject to UK inheritance tax, which is currently 40 per cent on estates valued at more than £300,000.

So, that place in the sun could save you and your family money as well as improve your lifestyle.

Of course, you might end up missing those rainy days.

- Laura Harding, scotsman.com