Moving to South Africa
 

Hi there,

A couple of years ago I went to SA on holiday and I felt in love with it!

Right now, I'm thinking of moving there but I don't know exactly what's the best way to obtain a permanent work permit in order to apply to the airlines there.

I'm a EU citizen with 5000 hours on B737.

Any hint or advice?

Thank you so much :)

Perhaps you should first consider whether you fell or felt in love with it. Lol.

For migration and work permits you need to contact your local South African embassy.

You are right, I meant "fell"; sorry :}

Are there airlines considering pilots without a work permit but eligible to be sponsored for that?

Why don't you fall upon the mercy of the sword and send a very professional CV with an accompanying even more carefully crafted letter to Captain Martin Louw at Comair/Kalula?

Comair - Spokespeople

Perhaps he will be kind enough to send you back a reply indicating the impossibility or likelihood of obtaining a position with them. One suspects that you'd need a letter of employment in order to obtain a work permit and that such a permit would only be valid for the specific company.

A little reference to ML's biographical sketch would seem to indicate that he is somewhat of a heavy weight, at least by African standards. Whether he would be sporting enough to reply to you is a matter for speculation. One would imagine he receives many such letters although perhaps not so many from guys with 5k time on a Fluffy. Possibly you need what's known as a letter of motivation to explain to him precisely why, in no nonsense terms, you wish to make such a transition.
It would also give you some street credability were you to have a letter from the SA/CAA indicating that they'd validate your licence or issue you with a local one?

So for Martin Louw:
Martin Louw | Who's Who SA

And for the CAA:
CAA Website

Best too not to overlook that fact that Lt Col Louw (that level of rank follows you into civilian life) spent a long time in the South African Air Force. Perhaps you were a fast jet pilot yourself? Goodness only knows what a slow jet is. Always suspected that jet would have been good enough for any ego. Just imagine how ridiculous we civilian pilots would sound if we ran around bragging about being 'heavy jet' pilots or 'super heavy skippers'? Why, we'd all be invited to join weight watchers!

All this is yours because the Christian remembrance of Christmas approaches and you seem lost in the wilderness.
¡Vivan Las Flores de la Noche Buena!

Good luck!

Breakthesilence, I wasn't trying to be a linguistic nitpicker; just cautioning you about South Africa's physical attractions and underlying drawbacks. Sorry that I have no knowledge of use to you.

Thanks... :}

...but there are no contacts on the website. It seems, looking to other airline's website (i.e. Mango), that in SA it's not "usual" to publish the famous "career" or "job opportunities" web page... :suspect:

No indeed, you will find that in order to comply with certain racist employment laws and quotas, jobs and suchlike opportunities are often advertised in The Sunday Times classified section and that often only once.

My wife, married 16 years, is South African and we have lived in RSA full time for the last 4 years. Still waiting on permanent residence permit, have been told it takes 5-8 years. It took her all of 90 days to get a green card in the US.
Good luck.

Careful Cowboy, there is a reason why the general moving trend is out rather than in to SA.

Enjoying a place on holiday and living there are very very different things.

Hello Breakthesilence,

I was born in S.A. and grew up there. I have also lived and worked in a number of other African countries. If you're a single man, great, have at it, enjoy and good luck, hope you find work, and that you keep winning the daily Russian Roulette that life down there has devolved into.

However, should you be considering bringing a spouse, or even children, please take note of the cautionary tone in some of these posts. South Africa is becoming one of the world's most dangerous countries, even though it still superficially has many of the trappings of the first-world. You may be black for all I know. This would definately give you a massive advantage with respect to finding employment (virtually impossible for a white male now due to the blatantly racist laws), but it is not a guarantee of safe conduct in the middle of the night, or when coming to a halt at a traffic-light. Everybody is a target. Perhaps you're politically on the extreme left. Again, you remain a target. The chances of becoming a victim of violent crime in South Africa are relatively high, and the odds are looking worse by the day. Yes, it is a truly beautiful place, and there are some wonderful people there, too. It is so great that I would possibly be living down there right now, taking my chances and be damned the consequences, if I were still single. But with marriage and children come responsibility. God help you if something happens to them, it would be on you for the rest of your days.

I mean no offence to anyone with this post, this subject is dynamite. Good luck, whatever you do.

That was V1 and V2 and well said! Quite correct on all counts.

I'd second that.

I wouldn't hesitate to go on holiday, but then I know the place very well, having lived there etc.

That same knowledge discourages me from ever going back on a permanent basis. Even the Cape is risky these days or so my Dad says.

Perhaps the positives out way the negatives: there are a heck of a lot of the former! Tricky one.

Thank you all, you have been really helpful and honest.

That's right, going somewhere and liking it on holiday doesn't guarantee you may live there well.
I was impressed however, during my holidays, by the fact that I found a quite relaxed and peaceful atmosphere than I was expected to find after reading some blogs and travel website which said there is a lot of crime and to be careful when going out in the evening.

The fact is that we are all unsatisfied about the life we are living and the place where we are residing.

Sometimes I feel the need to move out from here, live abroad and experience a different life. What are the first places that come into your mind? The places you have been, on holiday or at work, and these turn into something you wish to be your lifeline.

That's why most of us write on forums etc. Sometimes to ask for informations and sometimes to unintentionally request the others to open your eyes on some points and let you see what you need to see.

Thanks a lot guys.

Its a great country. I have spent quite a lot of time working in safer countries (as previous posters have said, most countries are safer), but I always am very pleased to be home. It may not be as safe, but its a far better place to live than any other I have seen.

If you are a single chap, then why not, only your self to look after. If you have baggage (sorry, family), then it is not the place. Period.
Getting your license validated (which btw, is the same time span as converting and getting a full license.) can take 2 weeks, or 6 mths, it is the luck of the draw at the SACAA.
If you have a CONFIRMED job to go to, they should help, as they will know the people to bribe, (sorry, pay off) to get it moving faster, but this is no means confirmed.
On the plus side of living there as an expat............. cheaper than Europe, you can have staff, trips to the bush are great.....nope, thats about all I can remember. I was J'burg based, so will be very jaded.
Good luck.

You will need to budget for a car. These are much more expensive than in Europe, especially second hand and you will want something decent. You do not want to beak down at night on any road in South Africa.

Breakthesilence,

If you are in Britain, get onto BBC's i-Player and watch last night's 'Question Time' (12th Dec, it took place in Johannesburg). Then think about if you still want to move there.

(It was rather delightful watching the expression on Hain's face when he was told to take his ideas back to England!)

Just a quick 2c worth without a permanent residence permit at the very least you can forget working for a south African airline there are enough south African pilots looking for work in SA as it is

Forget such plan, SA has plenty of pilots waiting for employment so you won't be granted a residence permit (=work permit). Sorry to say...