# Questions re Moving to the UK from South Africa - have EU passports



## claudiog (Jul 9, 2007)

Hi - I hope someone can answer some of our questions about moving to the UK from South Africa.

*First a little background:*
My wife and I have 3 children - 2 in primary school - my daughter starts high school next year. We all have EU passports - so getting there should not be a problem.

I am a self employed IT consultant with no formal education - this is a small business and wife does the accounts and day to day administration.
We will not have much money (if any at all) once we arrive so will need to get a job (any job will do) as soon as possible upon landing.
I will obviously have my CV with references ready upon arrival and will upload to the various employment agencies.

We do not have any support structure outside of South Africa - so this relocation will be tough...

*What we don't know is:*

What do we need to do in South Africa before departure in so far as getting references etc is concerned? Do we need to get anything from the tax man or from our local banks or police clearances etc beforehand?
What area would be best suited for me finding something I.T. related - bearing in mind accommodation is going to have to be at the bottom end of the cost scale – yet we do not want to live in a bad area
What do we need to do to open a bank account – can this be done from here before departure?
What about communications – can our cell phones be taken across? Is there a pay as you go type sim card available over there? What do these cost?
What essential things do we need to do immediately upon landing
Please realise – we are really in the dark – so if you can spare us the time to reply - the more information supplied the better.
This move has become something that we HAVE to do…

Thanks in advance
Claudio


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

claudiog said:


> What do we need to do in South Africa before departure in so far as getting references etc is concerned? Do we need to get anything from the tax man or from our local banks or police clearances etc beforehand?


Probably not, as references etc are specific to a particular job. You won't need police clearance unless you go for a job that requires it - e.g. working with children or vulnerable adults, or certain public-sector work. Bank reference may help when opening a bank account or renting a place.



> What area would be best suited for me finding something I.T. related - bearing in mind accommodation is going to have to be at the bottom end of the cost scale – yet we do not want to live in a bad area.


In UK there are no cities or towns that are dangerous to live in - only certain parts of a town are less desirable, and you can find out about them by local enquiry. What you need to focus on is the availability of jobs, which differs hugely among regions. Still most IT work is concentrated in the South East, along the Silicon Valley of M4 corridor (where Microsoft etc are headquartered). But that's also one of the most expensive parts of the country to live in. To compromise you may want to explore cities outside the South East, such as Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds etc with a balance of jobs and moderate cost of living. But remember the recession is hitting the UK hard, and jobs of any description are hard to come by, and IT sector has been badly affected through cost-cutting and redundancies. Your lack of formal qualification may limit your opportunities, unless you have extensive real-life experience with solid track record.



> What do we need to do to open a bank account – can this be done from here before departure?


There are certain firms that help you to set up a bank account etc in advance, for a fee, like Living and working in the UK - Working Overseas | 1st Contact UK. But normally you can just use your SA account with a debit and ATM card to begin with, then open a basic account without cheque book and overdraft and eventually upgrade to a full account after 6 months or so.



> What about communications – can our cell phones be taken across? Is there a pay as you go type sim card available over there? What do these cost?


Bring your phone and SIM card over for receiving text messages from home - it won't cost you anything. Then on arrival get a pay-as-you-go phone and SIM combo for as little as £5 (plus £10 to £20 compulsory top-up) from just about any phone shop and supermarket. You'll have a huge choice of providers and phones.



> What essential things do we need to do immediately upon landing?


Book your first week or so of your accommodation in advance at a hotel or guesthouse, and start house or flat-hunting. Landlord will probably require a deposit and a few months' rent in advance, as you don't have local reference and credit history. Make sure you have enough savings to keep you going for a few months, as it may take a long time before finding a job. Go and register at local Job Centre (state employment service), where they will help you find a job, prepare your CV and so on. Then just keep applying for jobs. It won't be easy, but as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Once finding a job, make an appointment at Job Centre Plus to get your national insurance number. Income tax etc will be dealt with by your employer, who may ask you to complete form P46 to show it's your first job in UK.


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## Suki (Jan 23, 2008)

We relocated from South Africa to the UK just over a year ago. And as previously mentioned; the recession has hit the UK very hard, much harder than in South Africa. It has been very tough on the UK with job cuts everywhere so jobs are not easy to come by. Especially if you have no formal qualifications nor any UK experience or references. Being self-employed in SA on a small scale may also not count in your favour so it may take a while before you find work. "Menial" jobs are not easy to come by either. Luckily for us my husband already had work lined up before we left, but I am unfortunatley not a rocket scientist and I really struggled to find work in the admin/secretarial field. 

You mention that you wont be having much, if any, money on arrival. It is definitely advisable that you have some savings to tide you over until you find work. You are also not eligible for unemployment or other benefits until you have been living in the UK for 6 months, even with EU passports. I would suggest that you go over alone at first and look for work before bringing the family over. Also as Joppa previously mentioned, without a job a prospective landlord would probably want a few months rent in advance and of course the usual deposit of 1 months rent. It would be much easier if you were able rent an inexpensive room on your own and pound the pavements without having to worry about your family. If it is imperative that you and your wife look for work simultaneously, perhaps you can leave the children with the grandparents? That way you can still rent an inexpensive room together and live on the cheap until you find work. Have a look at a website called "Right Move" to get an idea of what rentals cost in the UK. 

Jobba has already answered your questions however, I would just like to add that First Contact has offices in Cape Town and in Joburg, they will make all arrangements for opening a bank account here for a fee. Give them a call. You will not be able to get a debit card nor a credit card or cheque book and definitly no overdraft facilities untill you are established in the UK for 6 months. So you will just get a basic ATM card. If you use your SA ATM card here you will be charged a fortune by the SA banks so best is to get a travel money card from Rennies Foreign Exchange and load your money onto that. The travel card can then be used here as a debit card so you can pay at shops with that and wont have to constantly draw cash. The GBP is quite weak at the moment so i would suggest you start loading money onto a travel card as soon as possible to take advantage of the exchange rate. By the time you are ready to go it may be back up to R12 to the GBP again! 

If you havent already, you must also get your CV into UK format before you leave. An SA style CV will just go straight into the bin. Have a browse on the net for some examples of UK CV`s. 

As far as areas to find work and live are concerned you could have a look at Slough. And I know many people will beg to differ as Slough is one of the less charming cities, however really not half as bad as some places in South Africa. And if you dont have any money it may be an idea. The Upton or Cippenham areas of Slough are quite nice and the rentals are more affordable and the Slough trading estate may be a good place for looking for work. (what we call an industrial park) Also Slough is only a 30 minute train ride into Paddington Station in London. 20 minutes with the fast train. So if you find work in London you can still rent cheap accommodation in Slough untill you find your feet and then if you find work in Slough you can eventually move to Maidenhead or surrounding area. Both my husband and I work in Slough and we live in Maidenhead and this works very well for us. Go onto google maps and have a look at the general area. 

Good luck with everything, please dont hesitate to ask if you have any other questions.


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## claudiog (Jul 9, 2007)

Thank you so much for the reply....

As mentioned, we are a family of 5 - daughter going into high school next year and 2 boys still in primary school... Please can you give me an idea as to the bare minimum that you would imagine a person would need to earn on a monthly basis in order to support his family and survive.. (obviously the area we stay in will have a bearing on that - however - I would like to hear form a South African as to what they think)

I know that I will find my feet (eventually) once I am living in the UK - but this is such a daunting task for our family and I want to prepare myself for the worst case scenario (obviously praying that this will not come to be) and one must be realistic in these times...

So if you could please give this a thought I would appreciate it.

Thanks again

Claudio


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

claudiog said:


> Thank you so much for the reply....
> 
> As mentioned, we are a family of 5 - daughter going into high school next year and 2 boys still in primary school... Please can you give me an idea as to the bare minimum that you would imagine a person would need to earn on a monthly basis in order to support his family and survive.. (obviously the area we stay in will have a bearing on that - however - I would like to hear form a South African as to what they think)
> 
> ...


For a family of five, I'd say the bare minimum you'd need without resorting to state benefits (income support, housing benefit etc) would be around £25,000 a year - this is living in the cheapest part of the country (such as Bradford, West Yorkshire), renting the cheapest 3-bedroom house and probably not having a car. £30-£35,000 will give you a bit more comfort. To live a typical middle-class life, living in a good suburb, running a car and modest amount of leisure and holidays would require around £50,000 (combined income). All before tax.


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## Suki (Jan 23, 2008)

Here some approximate monthly costs to consider:

Decent 4 bedroom house -£1200 - Cippenham/Upton Slough area 
Council tax - £110
Gas & Electric - £100 
Water -£30 
Broadband/Telephone and Satelite TV bundle - £30
Groceries per person - £200
Cleaning items & toiletries for a household of 5 - £60 - £75

Full tank of Petrol for a small car £40-50 - currently £1.16 per litre
Return train ticket Slough/Paddington - £8.50 off peak / £13.50 peak 

Adult Cinema Ticket - £8.00
under 15's cinema ticket -£5.50 
Entrance to Legoland or other theme parks -£31-£35 per adult / £20-25 under 15's
Average cost of a family meal out at pizza hut £10 per person 
Also costs for childrens school uniforms, equipment and activity trips to consider 

I think a combined income of £35000 per year pre tax is essential for a family of 5 and that will still be tight.


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