# Pipe dream or reality?



## greenjason (Apr 21, 2015)

Hey people, pipe dream or reality:
My girlfriend and I (both late 20's) would like to immigrate to South Africa, Cape Town.
We have 2 properties between us which we would like to rent out and earn money on whilst in Cape Town. The income from the rent alone would be considered a high income in Cape Town so anything we earn on top of that (from our prospective jobs) would be an added bonus. Essentially, we could live a very comfortable life in Cape Town with the two properties we have in London.
I work in property development in London and my partner works in the sales industry.
I feel like it's necessary to say that we are both white and I have my step-fathers family in Cape Town currently (however I doubt there's any chance of a family visa connection considering he's not blood related).
Does the above sound like a possible reality or is the job situation, especially for white immigrants, difficult to enter?
I look forward to hearing from any of you!
Thanks,
Jason & Rachel


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## Klipspringer (Feb 21, 2015)

Have you had a look at the critical skills list to see if either of your jobs can fit in there somehow? If not it will be very difficult to work in SA. A company would have to prove they could not find any local person with the skills to do the job before you would be considered for the position. Couldn't you just do international freelance work from home? I met a couple who does exactly that. They are here on a retired person's visa although they are only in their thirties. You just need to have proof of monthly funds available over a certain threshold. I'm not sure of the threshold (it's quite high though) but if your property income meets this you could qualify for this visa. Additionally they both work from home but with international clients because they're not allowed to pull their income from here. I'm not sure what he does but she is a freelance writer. I believe their visa is valid for a few years.


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## greenjason (Apr 21, 2015)

Thanks for the response klipspringer.
I have just checked the skilled visa list and unfort both my job and my partners are not on there. That said, the income from the property will enable us to apply for a retirement visa as it's a minimum of 37,000 rand per month. Trouble is my job is not something I can do from home. I would need to be employed in some way or another whilst I am out there. Same goes for my partner. Food for thought nonetheless - unless of course we open a business out there or find work we can do from home to keep the money coming in. Thanks again for the response, any more ideas welcome!


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## Jem62 (Jul 25, 2012)

Your only option appears to be making as much as you can from a family visa, I assume your step father is or was married to your mother, you shouldn't deride this family link, let the DHA make the decision. If you are keen, get legal advice, possibly from the legal man on this site.


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## greenjason (Apr 21, 2015)

unfortunately there's no connection - my step father (english) is married to my mother (also english) but my step fathers' sister moved to s.africa 30 years ago and now has a family and life over there. seems like a bit of a pipe dream but i won't give up complete hope! i'll see how things progress and i'll monitor the job situation closely over the next few years. thanks for your input guys. jason


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## hopeful1986 (Feb 5, 2014)

Hi greenjason, 

It's not impossible to find a job as a white person, Hahahah! Sorry to laugh. I can imagine how dire the situation may seem, but BEE (affirmative action), if that's what you're worried about, isn't so restrictive as to completely prevent you from finding work. It's possible, esp if you are good at your jobs, to find decent employment and secure a job offer on condition of the securing of a work permit. Granted I'm personally intimidated by the new work permit procedures (even having applied for 2 separate permits myself without any assistance, but prior to the amendments) esp the labour department requirement, but as a fellow expat, I don't count at all under the BEE codes (as far as I've been told) so it doesn't benefit a company at all to employ me (im a black female you're a white male, but we count the same do surely if I could do it do could you!), but I've proven myself enough to get 2 jobs, which you both can achieve too, with hard work and determination.

Good luck!


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