Time To Move?

I have been eagerly watching the election process in South Africa, as voters take to the polls in what could be the single biggest political event for the country and its people in recent history. For 30 years the ANC has held power, but it now appears that even their most loyal voter base is slipping away and early poll results show they are a fair way away from reaching the 50% majority. What that means for South Africa and South Africans is another story (and potentially another blog) but no matter what happens, there will be families up and down the country contemplating whether it might be the right time to leave and start life in another place (New Zealand is obviously a popular choice).

However political upheaval or uncertainty is nothing new for South Africa and despite the ANC holding on to power for so long, the country has been plagued with issues, most of which stem from political mismanagement. Don’t get me wrong, South Africa is a beautiful country with enormous potential, however if you were looking for reasons to leave, you wouldn’t have to look far. However for many, it takes something like an election decision such as this, to push them hard enough to contemplate packing up their bags, kids and the family pooch and heading abroad.

For others the decision to leave is not motivated by anything quite so dramatic, and in fact might be less about being ‘pushed’ out of their home country and more about being ‘pulled’ in the direction of somewhere new. This is true of people coming from countries like the United States, the UK or Singapore. Admittedly you might argue that there are plenty of people who feel they are being pushed out of those countries as well, but by and large people from more settled countries tend to see NZ as more of a lifestyle choice or they come in pursuit of different opportunities. People coming from South Africa often feel like they have no choice and no opportunities.

The simple fact is, that people move for very different reasons and of course as part of the decision to make the move, comes the inevitable debate over when. I am often asked, by those who are deciding on the move, whether there is a “right time” to migrate and the simple answer to that is whenever you are eligible to do so. Of course people will want to time it just right so the kids start school at the beginning of the new year - January 1 has a certain psychological pull over migrants, but if the right job surfaces in June, you might find yourself moving a lot sooner. There is, in reality, no right or wrong time to move, because the timing will be dictated by the opportunity and your circumstances and also your motivations.

This post is about understanding all of those factors, reasons and motivations and what to consider as you try and wrestle with one of the biggest “should we, shouldn’t we” decisions you might ever have to make.

Different Strokes

One of the main reasons for the move, that pops up during my almost daily calls with clients (usually South Africans calling in their evenings, my mornings) is for their children. It makes perfect sense of course - when your own country’s education system is collapsing, and one in three of your fellow citizens is unemployed, the prospects for children look fairly bleak.

Reasons to Move

The reasons behind people deciding to move to another country are vast, varied and sometimes quite unusual. We have seen a fair few over the years.

As parents we all try to do the best we can, to give our children the best opportunities, however in the case of South Africa, those opportunities are hard to find now, let alone 10, 15 or 20 years in to the future. Many of my clients are motivated by the fact and it makes sense. However I do also remind them that in 10,15 or 20 years time, when the kids are off doing their own thing, they themselves have to be happy to have made the move as well. For some of my clients, the push is more of a pull, and their reasons for making the move might involve reuniting with family (particularly partners) or children, and in these cases timing might be more or less important.

We also have people who have simply been looking for better work stories, and who believe that NZ might be able to offer them that dream job, in a new and unique environment (Hobbits anyone?). Motivations vary greatly but if I was to hazard a guess as to the main driver, it would be based on wanting to escape to something better. If you consider where the vast majority of our migrants come from, overwhelmingly it is a case of push and not pull. That hasn’t always been the case of course, but certainly as things get tougher in various parts of the world and the world becomes a more complicated space with tensions increasing, the motivations for people to want to improve their situations increases accordingly.

I used to always say in my seminars (to packed rooms of South Africans, Singaporeans or Malaysians), no matter what your reason is, write it down somewhere and refer to it often. You will usually need to remind yourself of why you are doing all of this at some stage and so having that reason burned in to your memory is a good way to keep your motivation running throughout the process.

Decisions, Decisions…

Deciding on whether to make the move is often compounded by the ‘when to move’ variable. For many families, the decision on whether to move is a lot easier, because ultimately the reasons are piling up around them. I consulted with a South African family recently who had been car-jacked, had their home broken into and who were without power for most of last year. Despite all of that they had held on firm, until now, and the thought of what this election might bring was just a bit too much to bear.

Twists & Turns

Deciding to move and then working out when is like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube…one twist, one turn and you might be back where you started.

Personally I might left after the even a few months of power-cuts but you would be surprised at how long people can hang on before the straw breaks the camel’s back.

Of course as soon as you do make that call, then all of the other things you need to decide on appear. Much like a Rubik’s cube, just when you manage to solve one side, you realise you still have five sides left, all of which might end up changing your solution to the first one. There are decisions on what to do financially, where you will go and whether you will qualify, whether to take the pets or relocate them (or worse), and then of course when should all this happen. Many of these issues tend to work themselves out as you move through the process, however the timing question is always interesting.

Someone once said (it wasn’t me, but I wish it was) that in the good old days migrants set the terms and chose the country they wanted to move to and also the time. Nowadays, the country generally selects the migrant and the timeframe is set by when a job offer might be secured. Of course there are ways to try and plan your move to fit within a schedule, but my advice is to always be flexible. If you want to move in a year, but the perfect job opportunity surfaces tomorrow, you would be foolish to let it go.

Often timing revolves around children and wanting them to settle in to their new surroundings, school, friend groups and so on - however ironically children are by far the most adaptable migrants and when they move is far less of an issue to them than it might be to their parents. New Zealand’s schooling system absorbs children quite quickly and at any stage, so there is no absolute need to move at the beginning of the year.

My advice is and always has been that if the opportunity to move is there, don’t pass it by because it doesn’t fit within the schedule. By the time you reach that perfect window to move, the opportunity will be long gone and may never return.

Plans Into Action

Finally when your mind is made up and you appreciate that timing may be something you have to be flexible with, you need to put your plan in to action and that involves, getting off the fence (hoping the drop isn’t too high) and then committing to the process. I often consult with people who start out with all the commitment they can muster, but then don’t put the gear lever in to drive. If you are going to do this, then you need to move quickly because the rules can change, opportunities can move on and of course your own situation can change, making you ineligible.

The Migrant Commitment

When you decide that the move is right and the time is now, it takes an enormous effort to commit, but commitment is absolutely what you will need to make it through.

That commitment needs to then hold strong throughout the process, because if deciding to move is like playing with Rubik’s cube, then actually moving can be a bit like a game of snakes and ladders.

As you progress through the process, things will change, your plans will change and you might find yourself sliding down the snake, running to the next ladder. I dealt with a client a few years back who was navigating their way through the skilled migrant process and along the way secured a job, then lost the job and repeated that process four times. His skills were not the issue, but he simply encountered three employers who promised more than they could financially deliver, before finally reaching safe harbour with the fourth. For that client, commitment to the end goal (motivated by the future of his young children) was crucial in making sure he didn’t just pack it all in and head home. He had his post-it note with “doing it for the kids” handy and never once stopped to second-guess his long-term goal.

Of course not everyone experiences the process with so many challenges, but the key is to be prepared and to be able to adapt, adjust and change, no matter what comes your way, remaining as committed to getting to the finish line as you were on day one. You might not get there as quickly as Usain Bolt, but you will still get there in the end.

Your Move, Your Decision

To wrap this up, the final message and one that I have said a few times before, in a few of my other posts, is that the decision to move has to be the right one for you. No doubt there will a lot of South Africans eagerly awaiting the final poll result, before deciding on whether to pull the plug or not and there will be even more, trying to convince their friends, colleagues and family to do the same. However unless you make this decision for yourself and are comfortable with it, it may never really work that well.

I have met and worked with a fair few people who embarked on the migration journey because they were convinced by other people that it was the right thing to do. Some of them didn’t get to the start line, some didn’t quite make the finish and others made it all the way across, but struggled to appreciate why they had. Thankfully the vast majority of the people I have worked with and that my team now works with have decided, of their own accord, to make this move.

I can certainly understand why a situation such as the one South Africans are facing now might be the catalyst to considering a move, but it shouldn’t be the only one. New Zealand is not perfect and we have our own issues to contend with as well, although most of those pale in comparison to many other places around the world. If you are thinking of doing this move, make sure you are clear on the reasons why, be flexible in your approach and commit to the process.

That winds up another week for the team here and as we prepare for a long weekend to celebrate the King’s birthday on Monday (six months in advance), whilst we watch as the former President of the United States goes down on 34 charges (we might get a few more inquiries from those in the US), we hope that this article has given you some pause to think about your move, your reasons for moving and hopefully confirming that this is the right decision for you.

Until next week!