Escape South Africa

Ever wonder what kind of house Robert Mugabe lives in while the people of Zimbabwe starve and try to survive 1200% inflation? Then I present to you the humble residence of Bob The Dictator:

Thats what happens when you have a one party state and a dictator in charge. It was never about helping the people, it was always about keeping power through any means possible.

Oh dear, doesn't that sound like the "New" SA?

GULP

Mbeki lashes out at capitalist SA

I had to "laugh" when I read this article. You have to read between the lines with an article like this. This is communism in the making. Its quite ironic that Mbeki says that we shouldn't worship wealth and yet there he goes flying around in his fancy jet. Makes me want to scream: HYPOCRIT! Sell your plane then and fly on SAA and practice what you preach!

A better life for all? Sure, if you're one of the fat cats living it up at the top of the ANC food chain.

Don't be in denial Ladies and Gentlemen. Plan for your future outside of SA and make that plan today to escape.

Last night I watched the PW Botha DVD that I had purchased from:

Order the PW Botha DVD from here

If you can spare the R130 then I highly recommend it. Its quite interesting to hear what the former president of SA had to say. I am quite impressed that he was so perceptive about what would happen to SA if the ANC took over.

To quote Mr Botha: "Had SA been ruled by the black majority in 1948 or even the 1960s, we would have been in the drain (gutter) years ago."

He is against BEE/AA and doesn't believe in the so called "Rainbow Nation".

If anyone else has watched the DVD I would be interested to hear your comments on this.

SA Great Land Scandal - Index
SA Great Land Scandal - Chapters 1 and 2
SA Great Land Scandal - Chapters 3,4 and 5
SA Great Land Scandal - Chapters 6,7 and 8
SA Great Land Scandal - Chapters 9,10 and 11
SA Great Land Scandal - Chapters 12,13 and 14

I strongly recommend reading this free book (that was banned from Exclusive Books). When the farms of SA collapse and property rights are screwed up by the ANC there will be a mass exodus. Starvation will be a normal occurence in SA in the next 10 years.

Don't wait until its too late, get that visa now and escape.

Mugabes method of destroying countries from land grabs is spreading like cancer throughout Southern Africa:

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/08/this_land_is_ou.html

Be very afraid SA, this is your future. Hope you have that second passport or visa handy to make a quick exit.

If you want to learn more about SA and read some real
articles then you should subscribe to the newsletter that is
written by the author of African Crisis. You can subscribe at:

StraightTalk Newsletter

The cost is R60 per year and is available in a printed edition and an online PDF version.

I am a huge supporter of Jan Lamprechts web site African Crisis and thoroughly enjoy his views. I can recommend his book called:

Government By Deception (ISBN: 0-9632947-3-3)

Order Government By Deception

It cost R80 and is worth so much more for what it covers. When you start reading it you will not be able to put it down. I am reading it for a 2nd time and its even more fascinating this time round. Theres quite a few topics that he covers that will make you go: Oh, thats why the ANC is doing what they are doing.

Highly Recommended.

How to be a good Communist by Nelson Mandela

Wake up people, the ANC is not what it seems.

If you love communism then stick around, the best is yet to come. Otherwise run like hell.

When working overseas you most definitely need a guiding hand with your tax returns. Since you will be new to the country, doing it yourself isn't really an option. I can strongly recommend:

Taxback International

They have assisted me with 3 US tax returns and they really do get you a huge refund. They take 10% of the refund for their services but it is worth every cent. I plan on using them while I am working in the UK. They also do Australia and a few other countries when it comes to tax returns.

Its difficult to write about these topics since there are so many variables in determining what your cost of living and taxes are. I will mention what I experienced and you can use that as a starting point.

Being a foreigner in the US certainly has some great tax benefits. For instance, when you open up a bank account, be sure to mention that you are from another country. Why? You will not be subject to any federal withholding tax on any interest you make on the money you have in the accounts you have with that bank.

The other bonus is that you can open up a broker account there and any profit you make on trading shares/options/futures will not be subject to tax due to your foreign status.

You are expected to declare these earnings/profits to the SA Receiever of Revenue...

When I was an employee there on a J1 visa my average tax rate was about 28% BUT when I did my US tax returns I got a HUGE refund. Again, this was due to my foreign status. This brought my average tax rate down to about 15%! WOW!

I can only comment on the cost of living on the East coast as that is where I was predominantly based. I heard from many Americans that living on the East coast strip between New York and Washington DC is one of the most expensive places and I have to agree. I stayed in Maryland for just over 2 years and it was an expensive city to live in compared to Georgia where I spent the remainder of my stay in the US. In Georgia you pay far less for accomodation and you get more for your money but then again the salaries there are lower too. I think Georgia state is one of the most fantastic places I have ever had the honour of working and travelling in.

Rent in Maryland will set you back around $800 (single room) to up $2500 (for a 2 bedroom upmarket apartment) per month. My food bill for a single person was around $75 per week. I had a company car so I'm not 100% sure of the costs associated with this. Needless to say to lease a car is VERY cheap there. Broadband Internet and digital cable TV was about $80 per month. A meal out was about $20 and buying lunch (when I was too lazy to make sandwhiches) cost about $10.

I think its necessary to point out that converting all these costs in Rands is pretty much a pointless exercise. You should work out everything relative to your salary you will/could earn in the US. The ONLY time you should convert is when taking cash over with you to settle in for the first couple of months.

Zimbabwe: Shadows and Lies:

Once you watch the brilliant video in the link above you will be able to see what waits for fellow South Africans that are still determined to stay in SA.

The first country I am going to discuss is your options to work in the USA. This is a tough country to get into and I will mention the visas that I obtained. You have four main options when applying for a visa at your local US embassy:

1) B1/B2
2) J1
3) H1B (leads to a Greencard)
4) L1 (Inter company transfer)

I had the first two visas so here is a breakdown of what they are all about (think of it as a cheatsheet!):

Visa: B1/B2

Visa description: Business/holiday visa

Time taken to obatin visa: One day

Duration of visa: Up to one year

Renewable: Yes but difficult to do

Cost of visa: Don't remember but its maybe a couple of hundred Rand

Restrictions: You can only be in the country for up to 3 months at a time and you cannot take up employment while you are there.

Reasons for getting the visa: You can CONTRACT there provided you are paid back home in your local currency. Great way to experience a new country and decide if you like it. If you are fortunate to work for a company in SA that has branches in the US and they are willing to send you over then this is a good option.

Visa: J1

Visa description: Training Visa

Time take to obatin visa: One day at US Embassy and a week of preparing the supporting paperwork. There is a mountain of paperwork that needs to be submitted with this application just to warn you! You have to prove that you are going to return to SA after your 18mths in the US is up. I did this by showing them proof of my retirement annuity I had (this proves ties to SA), bank statements and gave them a list of friends I had (with physical addresses and cellphone numbers!). You will be interviewed for this visa.

Duration of visa: 18 months

Renewable: No (this is a once off visa)

Cost of visa: $3000 (this included $500 to expedite the application process)

Restrictions: You have to work at the company that sponsored you.

Reasons for getting the visa: This is a GREAT visa to get if you can find a company that is willing to sponsor you. You can earn US dollars and be an employee of a company while there (while receiving all the benefits such as medical and bonus). The really awesome thing about this visa is that you don't have to pay medicare and social security and due to your foreigner status you pay less tax so your nett pay is substantially larger than what Americans would receive.

Resources to assist with obtaining the visa: http://www.aipt.org/

In another blog I will discuss the cost of living in the US and what the taxes are like.

Am I glad you stumbled across this Blog. I intend to use this Blog to inform everyone how I have been very fortunate to travel the world and ultimately make up my mind to leave SA.

It all started when I matriculated 10 or so years ago. I wanted nothing more than to work in the US and the UK. As luck would have it, an opportunity presented itself in a job I had which allowed me to contract in the USA for one year and then to become a "temporary employee" for 18mths.

After my two and a half years in the USA my eyes were certainly opened and my outlook on life changed radically. Ironically, I learnt more about South Africa while I was away in the USA than all the time I had lived in SA!

Towards the end of my stay in the US, I had formed this picture in my mind of how great returning to SA would be. I had gained valuable new skills in the States and could now boast that I had international qualifications and experience. To cut a long story short, I could only handle working in an incompetent environment for 18 months! The funny thing is, I knew within arriving in SA after 2 weeks that I wanted to leave for overseas again. It just didn't feel right to stick around and my 18 months back in SA proved that.

During the time I was in SA I frantically researched work visa options. I started applying for Permanent Residency in Australia but after waiting over a year I got impatient (and more unhappy in my slavery of a job) and decided to apply for an HSMP (more on this later) work visa. The UK work visa came through in two weeks and I resigned, and a month later I was in the UK.

What I would like to do is post a couple of blogs as to how you can approach obtaining work visas that allow you to work all over the world. Oh, don't worry, I don't have a degree so don't worry about that! ;-) I can also recommend various agents that assisted me with the process and provide the ultimate cost of a visa (more affordable than you think). These are agents I have had amazing service from. So what do I get out of providing all this? Satisfaction in knowing that I have helped someone escape hell in the making...aaaah....karma!

This blog won't be just about visa information though. I will also post all the various sources of information I have used in coming to my decision to leave SA.

Anyway enough waffling. Thats just a brief introdution about me. Tomorrow I will post the first blog regarding obtaining a nice shiny new work visa that will allow you to escape SA!

I can feel the excitement already!