[Tezi]

Just wondering if there are members on the forum who have immigrated from RSA to Australian and then to USA?

If so how does USA compare to Australia?

[Hagar]

Don't do it unless you have a REALLY good job offer, and then don't trust that much either..

[Superkruz]

Cant answer this question at the moment but after spending 5 years in Aus I am now on my way to the USA in January 2012. Maybe in a few months I will be able to give you an answer.

[Knersus]

Have lots of family and friends in Oz and here....Both places are fine if you have the stomach, mentality and attitude to make a difference in your life. If you have small kids, it's a no-brainer to get out of South Africa.

[lambg]

Def Australia is much better where it comes to quality of life and schooling. Australia made much better progress in the PISA test scores than the US or UK for that matter. Also for work life balance - this is something that hardly exists in the US. Depending what field you are in - here you literally work your life away. I mean 15 days vacation and some people can't even afford to take those few days. If you have small children - Australia is a much better place to raise them

This post has been edited by lambg: 04 February 2012 - 09:31 PM

[Knersus]

lambg, on 04 February 2012 - 09:29 PM, said:

If you have small children - Australia is a much better place to raise them

Depends on where in the US you are referring to....definately not a true statement of where I live. As far as productivity...I would rather not go there with you.....

[Reichette]

We have friends - not a member of SAUSA (I think), but the husband was a former colleague of mine back in SA - who did this: emigrated to Sydney for 2 yrs then thereafter to the US (Houston, TX).

When still in SA, they were very eager to emigrate elsewhere. So the husband applied in his name to Oz while his wife applied at the same time in her name to NZ - just in case either one of the applications did not work out. His wife got news of NZ acceptance first. About a month or so later he got news of Oz acceptance and then about 2 weeks after that they learned that they had been selected in the Greencard lottery on top of it all... What a story!

Since their GC number was not expected to become current for many months still, they decided at that time that they were going to emigrate to Oz in the meantime. And then 2yrs later - after getting the GCs in the meantime - they moved to the US.

They say they enjoy the more affordable houses and clothing that the US (Texas in particular) offers and they mentioned that the American work place is also a lot more friendly like in SA (as compared to Oz where the workplace apparently is quite a stiff setup with little tolerance of making a joke or relating any much personal experiences with colleagues).

This post has been edited by Reichette: 18 February 2012 - 10:35 AM

[treverly]

Wow! Not many people are as fortunate as your friends have been.
That is just fabulous!

[Reichette]

On my side of the family, we are 3 siblings of which I am the oldest child. My brother and sister (with their families) have all emigrated to Oz during late 2008 and early 2009. They all live in QLD - about 400km apart.

They say that they enjoy their new country very much (although they miss SA a lot too - like the rest of us). Their children have all assimilated very quickly. My Boet has a triplet who had just turned 10yrs old a week ago. They now have a heavy Afrikaans accent after nearly only 3yrs over there.

Unfortunately I have not yet been able to visit them in Oz and can therefore offer no comparison of my own. As far as the US is concerned, it outnumbers the Oz population by about 16 times. The US economy is therefore much bigger and the diversity and availablility of work opportunities expected to be greater. For some careers, like mine, this is a significant consideration.

I have also read somewhere before that of all countries South Africans would usually emigrate to, American culture is about the closest you'll find to the Afrikaner culture. Americans regard their right to freedom very highly. Their patriotism is almost contagious and it often reminds me of a time long ago in the old SA where once I too held my country's flag in high esteem and sang the anthem out of a full heart...

[PMDENEKE]

I moved to New zealand for six months then had to leave. Went to study in USA in 2008. I am now in florida. I liked New Zealand , but USA is much better. I love the warm sun , compared to the cold overcast days In auckland.

[Superkruz]

PMDENEKE, on 09 March 2012 - 06:00 PM, said:

I moved to New zealand for six months then had to leave. Went to study in USA in 2008. I am now in florida. I liked New Zealand , but USA is much better. I love the warm sun , compared to the cold overcast days In auckland.

NZ is very different from Australia. It would be like saying USA is not nice because you lived in Canada. I lived in Brisbane for 5 years and loved it.