December 2019, visiting Ireland on holiday. Wow, what a beautiful country! From the moment we arrived, we were in an absolute awe as to how beautiful this stunning country is. We instantly fell in love! We were visiting our son and his wife who immigrated to Ireland end of February 2019. Towards the end of our 2 week stay we started talking about also moving to Ireland.... My husband is nearing retirement age in SA and we knew that a future in South Africa is not possible, not for us and neither for our teenage daughter. But that is all it was, an option to be considered, not an action plan. Maybe we will move in 2021 or 2022, who knows...
We returned to a sunny and much warmer South Africa on the 7th of January, sad to had left this beautiful country, but time to take on the new year, if we only knew! I joined the South Africans moving to Ireland Facebook group whilst still on holiday and was following the posts everyday to keep track with developments on Brexit. One Thursday evening in January, there it was, Megan posted on the group that Brexit was finally through and the transition period will be until end of December 2020. With my husband being the BP holder that meant that should we want to make the move and exercise his EU treaty rights, it must happen much sooner as what we had planned!
Hubby was in a flat spin, he is a highly organized person where I on the other hand, very impulsive and need to be reigned in most of the time ???? Suddenly plans had to be made and we decided that end of August will be our deadline to move to Ireland. I started reading ALL the posts on the FB page, especially the BBHP (Big Big Helpful Post) and all the files. Omw, this was very helpful and provided me with everything I needed to get us started.
To give a bit of background, both my husband and I are religious and we both have a close relationship with God and we received a promise from Him way back in 2007/2008...... Hubby and our granddaughter went for their weekend stroll one Saturday morning in February and he picked up a piece of a puzzle. (Note- picked it up and kept it instead of just looking at it and discarding it as it did not bear any significance at that moment) Later that morning he realized with a start that this puzzle is actually much more than a discarded piece of something- it actually represents in physical, touchable form of what he mentioned right at the beginning of our planning- that this move to Ireland could well be the last piece of puzzle in his life puzzle, the final chapter, the last piece to complete his life picture. The significance was so majestic, so awesome, as we have been seeking the Lord's guidance, asking, begging for some form of confirmation that we are going in the right direction as this move to Ireland would indeed be a one way ticket situation...... Two days later his new BP arrived by courier, and there it was- the image of a piece of puzzle on each page, and not only that, but the same shape as the one he picked up! Coincidence? No, most definitely not. We were so excited, so assured and extremely excited.
We started job hunting to test the job market and out of the blue there was an advert for exactly the same position my husband have in SA. Now this not a very common position and not something I would have thought we will find on a job board, but there it was! We submitted his application and waited..... Then came the email, he was invited for an interview!!
Then it happened, the word everyone hates by now, COVID-19!!! ????Almost the whole world was in lockdown and South Africa closed borders. We were in a flat spin, again! We both had already resigned as we decided to be in Ireland in June instead of August to ensure we make the deadlines for Brexit. Luckily we could retract our resignations but then I was informed that due to Covid-19 I was being retrenched.
Luckily I already applied for my daughter's unabridged birth certificate and our unabridged marriage certificate before lockdown started but wasn't able to apply for her passport as the DHA offices were offline, as always! I joined each and every group on Telegram and WhatsApp regarding Flights out of SA and decided that we will take any repatriation flight we can get. I emailed everyone whose email address I could get hold of at Home Affairs and low and behold, got referred to a very senior person at DHA who, after I begged and cried for almost 15 minutes on the phone, authorized the application. Now to get the Centurion office to assist me was another battle.... but after spending 8 hours there and after ALL my original documents got stolen and then miraculously reappeared within minutes after we offered a cash reward, my daughter's passport application was submitted. We received the sms to collect it after 10 days and had another fight to collect it as they are not open yet for collection of passports!! By now I luckily had the right people on speed dial and walked out there with the passport in hand ???????? At the same time I received notifications that both the unabridged certificates were also ready for collection, a coincidence? I don't think so!
I immediately contacted Adriaan, another angel sent from above ???? and requested our names be added to the flight or 30 June, the last of 4 confirmed Emirates repatriation flights. Guess what, the flight was already fully booked ???? Luckily there were still business class tickets available- way more expensive than what we budgeted for! but it was a "one way ticket out of here" and we needed it so badly. It was our first business class flight and wow was it amazing ???? something I definitely can get used to.....
We had 1 week to pack up everything, sell our car and furniture and greet family and friends!! Everything happened at the speed of light and Monday, 29 June we locked our house for the very last time with only 6 (very big!!) suitcases in our hands.
On Tuesday morning the taxi came to take us to the hotel which was the assembly point to be transported to the airport. When we arrived at the airport, we had stay on the bus while the luggage was offloaded. Only after everything was packed in 2 straight lines we were allowed to disembark. The sniffer dogs was brought to ensure no illegal items were on board. We then went to the check-in counters and immigration and the only paperwork required was the SA health form, passports and my daughter's unabridged birth certificate and authorization from her father that she may leave SA with me. No shops at the airport were open, except for one coffee stand who also sold snacks and water. The flight was great and we landed safely at Dublin airport on Wednesday 1 July and although one of our suitcases got lost, the service by the Emirates staff was excellent.
We have been in Ireland for only 1 week now, but I know that we made the right decision to move here. It is hard, everyone says that but you don't realize how hard until you have to say goodbye to your loved ones ????. Getting set up, trying to figure out how to operate the washing machine and feeling like you won the lotto when you finally do ???? is all part of the fun and I would really advise anyone who is still in two minds about moving or who is moving in month or more to read everything on the FB page as well as the Sa2Eire site as it has ALL the information you will need and more to make your move easier.
To Megan, Vicky and Bronwen and all the other admins, and of course our angel Adriaan, I don't have enough words to say thank you enough for everything you guys do to assist all of us. You do this without any compensation and out of free will and nobody really understand how much this take of you, but please know that we are forever grateful!
Connie, Juliana and Wilmarie
Ps.. We just received an email to inform us that my husband's interview has been rescheduled for 11 Aug ????????????
Important links:
#MapMyMove- Our coaching Services - Confused or lost and need some direction, book a session with us to help untangle the confusion and work out your route of immigration
Flights from South Africa to Ireland
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