People & Places
Dealing with disappointment
Carol and Paul Hart from Norfolk applied for permanent residency in South African in May 2004, so you would think they would be enjoying their retirement under the South Africa sun ...
But in fact they are just about to start the emigration process from the very beginning – for the third time. The course of emigration certainly hasn't run smooth for this couple. Emigrate South Africa speaks to Carol to discover what exactly went wrong.
Emigrate South Africa (ESA):
Why did you want to emigrate to South Africa in the first place? Carol Hart(CH): My mother and two sisters already live in Johannesburg, and they have been there for over 30 years. So I have been holidaying in South Africa for a long time, and go once or twice a year. We are desperate to move there not least because of my health problems. When I'm there 90 per cent of the pain I suffer disappears. I think it is in part due to the dry climate.
ESA: What appeals to you about the country?
CH: We love the wide open spaces and the wildlife in South Africa, we also think it has a very laid-back feel; it actually reminds us of the US. We are drawn to South Africa's great lifestyle, the cost of living is low, houses are cheaper, and the only thing that's not cheaper to buy there are cars. We love the culture, and the friendly people. We are disillusioned with life in England. People always go on about the crime in South Africa, but in all the time we have been going there on holiday we've never felt threatened, and we go for a month at a time. The hospitals in South Africa are fantastic too. Private healthcare is a fraction of the price that it is in the UK. I can get medicine there that I can't even access in the UK. The only thing I will miss is my children, but they're grown up and the world is a small place now – it doesn't cost much to come back and visit anyway.
ESA: What visa category did you apply under?
CH: Although we are not going to work in South Africa, we didn't want to go in on the retirement visa as you have to take a lot of money into the country. We wanted to be sensible and not put all our eggs in one basket as you say. When we first applied we decided on the Relative permit – which we were advised we wouldn't have any problems at all applying under, given the family I already had in South Africa.
ESA: So what went wrong?
CH: It all started when we went for our first interview, we were worried as our immigration agent didn't come with us. And to our utter despair our application was thrown out, we were devastated, especially when we were informed it was because our immigration specialist had placed us in the wrong category. We have now found out that part of the reason our first application was thrown out was because new legislation had come in, which was causing some confusion – but surely that is what you employ an immigration agent for – to clear up such misunderstandings. So when we had recovered from the shock and upset of our first rejection we applied again, this time under the citizenship category. This was even more complicated and required my elderly mother to change her status from a resident to a citizen. This also required a considerable sum being paid on our behalf. We were then told by our immigration agent that that it was still not going to go through. When we investigated further we were told that our application had never even been made. We couldn't believe it. Where had our money gone? We have since discovered we were not the only people who had encountered problems with this immigration agent.
ESA: What would your advice be to others about to embark on the emigration process?
CH: It's hard to offer advice to others, or even to say what we would do differently. We thought we were being careful. What more could we have done? We have after all been travelling to and from South Africa for the past 12 years – some people emigrate after just going on holiday once. We know the country so well. Understandably we had many worries as we were going through the process – when we raised these with our immigration agent she simply told us to stop worrying.
ESA: How do you see you future?
CH: We are absolutely not giving up. We don't feel we should have been turned down the first time, but we were. We now have to start the whole process again. Our first step is to meet up with a highly recommended South African immigration lawyer. We have decided we would like to live in the Drakensberg region of the province of KwaZulu-Natal. But we are going to rent for a while to make sure it definitely is the place for us, before we buy.
When we eventually get to South Africa we do plan to take things easy. My husband might do some voluntary work.
ESA: Do you regret ever trying to emigrate?
CH: We have been through hell. It's been horrendous, a nightmare. One minute we're excited thinking we should be there soon, the next we're heartbroken because our plans have to be put on hold again. I have regretted embarking on emigrating at certain stages, but at the end of the day I am drawn back to South Africa, and I know I won't regret it when we finally get there.
Have you been affected by problems during your emigration process? Email us at Emigrate South Africa.
Read a response to this article from Lee and Steve Peck
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