I’ve been asked on this forum about my decision to emigrate to the Seychelles so here’s a brief explanation.
Background: A few years ago my wife and I decided that as soon as the kids are out the house, we’re going to think of moving to another country. Not because of what’s happened or happening here in SA, we’ve been fortunate not to have had any mishaps, been victims of serious crime, etc. We just want to travel, see and experience other places.
I have a UK & SA passport, although this hasn’t made any difference to the Seychelles move now, it may make things easier when travelling from there later.
Why Seychelles? Besides being an idyllic island style destination and being a REALLY beautiful place, my brother-in-law has lived there for 7 years now working in the construction business and we’ve been over to visit a few times now in the last 2 years, besides the airfares it’s a cheap holiday. During our visits, we’ve come to know most of the SA ex-pats there, most of which are in the marine tourism/leisure boat industry, well that’s my bread & butter. I’m an electronic/electrical technician who’s been working on oil rigs, drill ships, tug boats, cargo vessels, etc. for quite a while now.
So in a nutshell, the main hurdle is to find a local who’s willing to register a business for you without wanting too much profit out of your business, I suspect it’s the same in every country though. It took me a year and three attempts to find the right (non-greedy) local. Once the business was registered, a GOP, Gainful Occupation Permit (work permit) is needed to get there. The position you are going to fill has to be advertised 3 times in the local paper and proof has to be given to the department of labour that no locals have the necessary skills to fill that position before they grant you a GOP.
This whole process has also cost quite a bit in administration fees which I intend to recover as company expenses but let’s see what happens.
Incidentally, my flight is this coming Monday and I'm frantically packing and fixing house... more to follow soon....
Background: A few years ago my wife and I decided that as soon as the kids are out the house, we’re going to think of moving to another country. Not because of what’s happened or happening here in SA, we’ve been fortunate not to have had any mishaps, been victims of serious crime, etc. We just want to travel, see and experience other places.
I have a UK & SA passport, although this hasn’t made any difference to the Seychelles move now, it may make things easier when travelling from there later.
Why Seychelles? Besides being an idyllic island style destination and being a REALLY beautiful place, my brother-in-law has lived there for 7 years now working in the construction business and we’ve been over to visit a few times now in the last 2 years, besides the airfares it’s a cheap holiday. During our visits, we’ve come to know most of the SA ex-pats there, most of which are in the marine tourism/leisure boat industry, well that’s my bread & butter. I’m an electronic/electrical technician who’s been working on oil rigs, drill ships, tug boats, cargo vessels, etc. for quite a while now.
So in a nutshell, the main hurdle is to find a local who’s willing to register a business for you without wanting too much profit out of your business, I suspect it’s the same in every country though. It took me a year and three attempts to find the right (non-greedy) local. Once the business was registered, a GOP, Gainful Occupation Permit (work permit) is needed to get there. The position you are going to fill has to be advertised 3 times in the local paper and proof has to be given to the department of labour that no locals have the necessary skills to fill that position before they grant you a GOP.
This whole process has also cost quite a bit in administration fees which I intend to recover as company expenses but let’s see what happens.
Incidentally, my flight is this coming Monday and I'm frantically packing and fixing house... more to follow soon....
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