Guest Phantom Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hi, I know this is a Poms In Oz site, But I am looking for South African Poms that are going to OZ. Reading all the posts and seeing how friendly everyone is in here, was hoping that I would be welcomed? :wubclub: Anyways, So I am looking for other South Africans that are in the UK (or in OZZY) that have or are in the process of emigrating down under from the UK. And that may have both their UK and SA passports. Or did you forget about your SA passport and just intend to keep your UK passport with dual citizenship ‘’eventually’’ with OZ. My wife and myself are hoping to settle near Brisbane. I am Industrial Maintenance technician and will be Appling for the 175 visa. Think that is what it is called through VETASSES. And would like to know how you guys are doing in your process and if you have any hiccups with paperwork from SA? i.e. police clearance, references and anything ells that I cant think of at the moment. Cheers for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mylady Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hi We are south africans living in UK,hubby is a maintenance electrician,we dont have UK passports,hubby has portuguese passport but we are going to use our South African ones as the i.d no on it corresponds with all the certificates reference letters etc.We are also going for the 175 and hubby is writing his ielts on 11th Oct,we almost have all the paperwork together for vetassess just waiting for one more from a previous employer here in the uk.Hoping to get in for the October assessment,if not the next one.I am trying to get our visa application in before March 09.I sent our fingerprints and application for South African police clearance to my mom who will apply from south africa,much easier. How far are you in the process. Kind Regards Mylady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sunsh1ne Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hello there and welcome ! We have recently arrived in Australia in Sydney. My husband is a South African who has a British and SA passport. We disclosed all of this on the visa papers as it is asked for. We haven't given much consideration to what will happen with passports down the line as we'll make this decision when and if necessary. We had to get full birth certificates from SA and asked one of the family in SA to help process this on our behalf - it took about 6 weeks which is what we expected. If we can be of any further help let us know. Sunsh1ne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scamp1976 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hi Phantom, Our main 2 things we had to do for South Africa were : - Getting Apostille for the Birth Certificate of my gf ( she's South African ) We did this through the Brussels Embassy, and we got it for FREE , without ANY problems at all. - Getting Police Clearance for her in South Africa. This proved to be a hardship. It's next to impossible to get the police clearance. First, you need to send the docs to SA. Obviously you can't include cash money ( DHL / TNT etc don't accept cash in enveloppes ) and they don't accept cheques. They only accept bank cheques, but they need to be in the name of someone ( not "police" , but "Johnny Smith" ). We don't have any names from people there. They don't have an IBAN number either. We're still in the process of getting the police clearance although we've done everything else. If you live in South Africa I'm sure it's a lot easier to just go to Preatoria and give them the cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phantom Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hi there Mylady, Great to hear things are moving for you. I have infact not started at all. as i am waiting for my UK passport, as i am so close to get it i may as well get it then head of to OZ. I have however started to get my papers together as that alone will take me ages to get as I will also need papers from SA. including refferences from past jobs and one Big company closed down like 15 years ago. Does your hubby have his wiremans license ? and if so how did he go about getting ''proof'' that he has it as all i have to show i have my wiremans license is the yellow card saying i am a instalation electrian with my license no. on. but teh card looks...not real as my niec could have knocked me one up that looks like it lol. So i been trying to get hold of the electrical board in SA for them to send me ''proof'' that i have it, but of course I have not heard anything from them and will have to continue emailing and phoneing them. Good luck for the vetasses and everything. lets keep in touch and swop info as we go along. Maybe we can all meet up for a braai one day? Whereabouts in OZ are you guys hoping to settle? Cheers for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phantom Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hi Sunsh1ne, HI and also welcome and thank you for joining. You guys are in OZ already wow, so nice I can not wait. So your husband as both passports, Cool, im just waiting on my UK pasport. I was just wondering if one could like keep all 3 passports, SA, UK and eventualy OZ? dont know if anyone reading these threads will know if one could have all three passports. I have my birth certif. but do you know if I have to have it apposstiled, any ideas? Oh ye, The Eilts test thing. If one has the UK passport does one still need to do it? or is that just to get extra points? My wife is from SLOVAKIA, so we got to find another thread or forum that we can ask questions about her papers she will need from Slovakia as we have no idea. OH sorry everyone I meant to ask in my first thread. Anyone going at it alone or useing a Agentcy? IM going to try it alone as any amount of saving will help with a nice holliday or to use elswhere, like rent for a phew months in OZ when we get there. Cheers for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mylady Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hi Phantom My hubby does not have wiremans licence but I had to get his trade certificate(electrician) and his N1,N2,N3 certificates and that took me ages.I started in March and still have one outstanding letter holding me back.The certificates took 3 months to get.I spent a fortune on the phone calls cos they just dont bother if you dont bug them for it.Where in South Africa did u get your wiremans licence?I had to chase down my hubbys previous superintendents in singapore and Australia to get reference letters as the company itself refuses to give detailed letters.I wrote the letters myself describing everything he had done in each job and e-mailed it to them,they then signed it and sent their business cards with the letters.If I had to wait for them to do it I still would not have the letters.For the companies that closed down I am doing a detailed statutory declaration.We still dont know where we are heading,that will depend on where hubby gets a job.He wants to go to the mines as the salary is much higher. A braai in the sunshine sound good,I`ll bring the beers. Keep me posted and feel free to ask me any questions and I`ll try my best to help.I know its quiet a daunting process. Kind Regards Mylady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phantom Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 HI There Scamp agh nie. I thought that getting the police clearance cert. is going to be a hassel. as you may have already read in my past posts that i have not yet started and just busy getting all my papers together. BUt about the police clearance cert. Do you perhaps know when I should start applying for it and if it expires after a certain amount of months. like say I apply for it now, and start my process with vetasses and so on. and when i apply for my 175 visa then only do they ask for the police cert. and if i had it for the past year will they still accept it or will i have to apply for a new certificate? So dont knwo if i should apply for the SA police clearnce certificate, NOW or wait till i get asked for it by the CO that will (hopefully) call me or email me and ask for that along with the medicals? Just thought of another thing. but could be a stupid qiestion. I have been living in the UK for the past 6 years, so i will need police clearance from the UK of course, but do i still need it from SA as well? although I have not even been back there for the past 6 years? That means I will need two police certificates ? Thanx a million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mylady Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hi Phantom About the police clearances, As far as I know you can apply for it now as long as you dont enter South Africa after you have it otherwise you have to get a new one.We lived in Mozambique for 6 years and got a friend to get the police clearances for us last year which we are going to use for our application.You have to get police clearances for all the countries you have lived in for the past ten years.It is valid as long as you can prove you have not entered the country after it had been issued. Kind Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scamp1976 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 yes mylady is right, we for instance had to get 3 police clearances. A UK one, a Dutch one and a SA one. The Apostille is something worth looking into also, it's a 'certification' for your birth certificate. I wouldn't be surprised if they will ask for it as a standard within a short amount of time. It's best to just get it, it's free in most cases ( in the UK you pay 100 pounds for it or something : Apostille.org.uk I think the website was ). Might as well prepare everything extra-carefully and get those apostilles on your extra-important documents. Don't send originals by the way, always send copies. Keep the originals , have them certified copied by a notary or lawyer and then use that one to get the apostille. Good luck with your paperwork, it took us near 6 months to get everything, and we still miss the SA police clearance. I would start with : - IELTS - TRA / VETASSESS / ACS etc assessemnts whichever you need - South African docs ( police clearances / birth certs etc ) - Pet vaccinations etc. Then, once you get the Assessments back , do the medicals and the UK police clearance, and send it all up in 1 big package with your prepared docs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phantom Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hi Mylady I got my wiremans license through western province college in Cape Town, I did a 3 months wire regulations course and had to do the exam. Then once you got your pass mark results youd send the results of with proof of your electrical quilification and they sent out a ''license card'' but the license card looks so cheaply done and your signiture on the card was like just cut out from a sample piece of paper that had your signature on and pasted onto the card, anyways. that how and where i got my wiremans license. although it is worth less in OZ, (if i only knew back then). Im going to buy a regs book from OZ soon and start studying it as I will have to redo the wire regs exam in OZ to get my FULL license in OZ (i think) Chow for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewebweazel Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I might just be stupid but how does this Apostille story work? I though you had to get your document certified by a Migration agent or a Solicitor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phantom Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 HI Scamp Thank you also for the info. I had to have doc. aposstilled not so long ago for marriage reasons. (my wifes from Slovakia) anyways they said that they no longer aposstilled coppies, only originals. so that wont realy help me as i cans end originals (wont get them back) so will see what happens. OK cool. so i can actualy start now to get my police clearance. only thing is, How would I ''prove'' I have not bieng back to SA? regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phantom Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 HI, thewebweazel. The apposstile, this a a special ''stamp'' that gets put onto your original document (gets indorsed onto your certificate) only certified apoostil places can do this. The is one in MILTON KEYNES ( where i live, so convienient for me) Last time i had to have one done they said they no longer appostilled photo coppies even if they had been signed by a lawyer and so on. The opostille bassicaly is a specific stamp that proves its authentecy of the original doc. Hope that helps. any more questions please ask. chow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewebweazel Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 HI, thewebweazel. The apposstile, this a a special ''stamp'' that gets put onto your original document (gets indorsed onto your certificate) only certified apoostil places can do this. The is one in MILTON KEYNES ( where i live, so convienient for me) Last time i had to have one done they said they no longer appostilled photo coppies even if they had been signed by a lawyer and so on. The opostille bassicaly is a specific stamp that proves its authentecy of the original doc. Hope that helps. any more questions please ask. chow Have you ever had the authenticity of your South African original documents questioned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mylady Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hi Phantom The Western Province college will have all your records and you should contact them,they will be able to give you all your results which would help with the vetassess.They will be able to tell you exactly who you must call to get a new license card.Dont take no for an answer.In order to get my hubby`s trade certificate I had contact the college where he wrote his exam and after constant nagging they found everything they had on him in their basement.They also told me who to contact for his certificate.I also managed to get all his apprenticeship documents this way.Dont let them bull**** you,the place you wrote your exam is the place you should be phoning and e-mailing.Remember things have changed since you did your wiremans,maybe the electrical board does not issue license cards anymore.I dealt with city power in Jhb and found out I was calling all the wrong places for the certificate.Start out with the college you wont go wrong.My husbands college said that he did not even write his exams there but I did not give them a break so they eventually got someone to go down to the basement where they found everything. Goodluck Mylady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phantom Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Mylady. ah thanx, I will get hold of the college, and wont take a NO for an answer. Can anyone lt me know How I can go about applying for my police clearance cert for SA, as I know I must have fingerprints done. is there like an online form i can down load and take it to a police station to have my finger prints done or how doe sit work.? Thanx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phantom Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hi Ya Webweazel The only time i had my SA documents authenticy was when i took them to the police station to try and get a copy signed, they said they can not be sure if the original is an original and could not help me. The document I had aposstiled here in the UK was MY UK marriage certificate. so of course had no problem, so i still got to pass that herdle of getting any SA documents authenticated. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewebweazel Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hi Ya Webweazel The only time i had my SA documents authenticy was when i took them to the police station to try and get a copy signed, they said they can not be sure if the original is an original and could not help me. The document I had aposstiled here in the UK was MY UK marriage certificate. so of course had no problem, so i still got to pass that herdle of getting any SA documents authenticated. Cheers Sorry Phantom, To me I honestly don't see the point! I checked the prices out on the Web site , and they are nuts £64 per document and that is the cheapest type. postage and Courier £11 to £58. And when you have 5 in the family this really starts getting expensive! My agent said that he is able to certify most of my documents himself as he is Mara registered and a solicitor. I'm sure that DIAC has see all types of RSA documents and know what they are! But seeing that I haven't got my visa yet I'm just speculating, maybe belt and braces a necessary for the process, I realy hope not as it is already a "Kak en betaal" exercise. I would really like to hear from other Saffers on the this as I would hate to be wrong!:biglaugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mylady Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Hi Phantom Here is the no to call for South African police clearances 020 7451 7299.They will send you the forms requesting the uk police to assist you with fingerprints and all the infomation you need.You will need to find out which police station does ink fingerprints and have them done once you recieve the forms.I had ours done in Sheffield for £20 a set.It costs 59 rands for each clearance.I sent my application together with certified copies of passport and fingerprints to my mom in Durban to get the application processed,much easier. Regards Mylady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewebweazel Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Hi PhantomHere is the no to call for South African police clearances 020 7451 7299.They will send you the forms requesting the uk police to assist you with fingerprints and all the infomation you need.You will need to find out which police station does ink fingerprints and have them done once you recieve the forms.I had ours done in Sheffield for £20 a set.It costs 59 rands for each clearance.I sent my application together with certified copies of passport and fingerprints to my mom in Durban to get the application processed,much easier. Regards Mylady I got my Forms from SA house , But I was really Peeved to find out that the consulate does not do the finger printing any more! I approached the local Cop Shop in Telford and they wanted to charge me £60 a set, £120 for my OH and me. Luckily we didn't go a head with getting the Police clearance at that stage as I didn't realize that you can invalidate it by visiting SA again which I want to do in Feb 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scamp1976 Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 We just called the local police station and asked them where we could do some fingerprints. They said we needed to go to a bigger city, and we called those, got an appointment. They were very helpful and it was all free. Don't forget to have them ( police ) certify your passport photo's on the back with stamp + signature + "I certify this to be a true copy of the original" on the back ( yes, it's messy on a small photo ) otherwise they won't process your police clearance ( that's the UK police clearance ). For the fingerprints they will need to be done professionally by the police ( you can't do them yourself , we tried haha ). The major problem is the payment to SA police. You can't send a blank cheque coz they don't accept that and it's not smart, and you can't send a bankcheque coz you don't have the receiver's name. You also can't send cash money either. We added a letter and wrote "Please call us for payment details". We hope they call. We'll let you know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewebweazel Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 We added a letter and wrote "Please call us for payment details". We hope they call. We'll let you know I will be impressed if they do! Can SA house not help you with a payment method? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phantom Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Hi Mylady Thanx for the phone no. i'll give them a call some time and see what they say. Looks like I am going to have to start the police certificates first and now lol. looks like it is such a mission and a half. Think i'll do it the same route like you did. do all the forms and send it to YOUR mom in DURBAN to get the application processed...hahaha, just joking. i'll send it probably to my aunt in JHB. (give her somehting to do) Cheers Phantom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phantom Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 When I had my marriage certificate done with The APPOSTLLE thing. I whent into London to the office and they charged me £27 per document they attached the apostille to. The offiice has now since moved and is now in my town Milton Keynes (after paying £36 or a train ticket to london) anyways here is the web address: (click on ''the public counter'' words below) The public counter I see they still charge £27 per certificate and you can go into teh office yourself (avoiding anything getting lost in the post... Just for those who are interested. Cheers Phantom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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