Expat – LONDON

Confused Millennials in UK Beat Up White South African Security Guard Mistaking His Accent For Polish!

A gang of teenagers beat up a school security guard before jumping on the bonnet of his van, smashing his windows and telling him to “go back to Poland”. The victim, a former police officer from South Africa, needed hospital treatment after suffering a broken shoulder in the racist attack at Bishop Fox’s School in Taunton, Somerset. The 52-year-old man said a group of four youngsters punched him “repeatedly” and one of them threatened to slit his throat with a knife. The gang then stole his keys and hurled them into a hedge so he couldn’t drive away – before lashing out further by denting the van and smashing its windows with a block of concrete. “They obviously didn’t recognise his South African accent and told him to go back to Poland,” said Ron Blake, a colleague of the victim at the security firm that released dashcam footage of the incident. “They were on the public highway outside the school gates,” added Mr Blake. “They set about the security guard and repeatedl…

WATCH: SA doctor singing to young patients in Ireland goes viral

A South African doctor has become bit of an online sensation in the United Kingdom since a video of him singing to a sick boy went viral. According to UTV in Northern Ireland, Dr Ryan Coetzee, who works in the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, can regularly be heard using the hospital's children's ward as his "stage". Coetzee reportedly became an online hit when he was filmed singing to a young patient. In the video, Coetzee sings in a loud, baritone voice: "Homegrown alligator, see you later, gotta hit the road, gotta hit the road..." https://youtu.be/RU8eRyj7los The song "Shotgun", originally by English singer-songwriter George Ezra, reportedly woke a young boy, Oscar McLaughlin, much to his joy. "In my head I was hearing someone singing George Ezra, then when I woke up it was actually Ryan," the 8-year-old Oscar told UTV. Oscar was admitted on Saturday and was reportedly quite ill, but felt better after he was woken by the singing doctor. On Wednesday, after checking u…

Moving to the UK: The Unmarried Partner Visa – all you need to know

Many people assume that there is a separate type of visa application for the unmarried partner. However, this is not the case. If one fulfils the criteria to be an ‘unmarried partner,’ one would apply in the same way as the spouse or dependent of the main UK visa applicant. One can thus be the unmarried partner of an Ancestral visa applicant, a Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa applicant, the unmarried partner of a British citizen, Tier 4 Student visa applicant, etc. The conditions and requirements of the visa of the unmarried partner would thus basically be determined by the immigration status or type of visa the main applicant is applying for. The unmarried partner thus has the same status as the spouse or civil partner of the main visa applicant. How to qualify as an unmarried partner To qualify as an unmarried partner, an applicant will need to prove that he/she has been living together with the partner, in a relationship akin to marriage for two years or more. You will also ne…

New visa rules good news for South Africans looking for work in the UK

The UK Home Office has announced that it will henceforth no longer include doctors and nurses in the cap on the Tier 2 Visa cap. This is according to immigration consultants Breytenbachs, which notes that every month, since December 2017, the monthly quota for the Tier 2 Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) was reached. “Many UK businesses that applied for Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) to employ non-EU workers were not able to obtain the CoS they require,” it said. “When a CoS is not issued, the employing company subsequently has to wait for the next monthly round of allocations of the Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship. Furthermore, it is not only a waiting game, but they have to lodge a new CoS application for consideration each month to be considered,” it said. “The implication was a growing shortage of staff at the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, as well as a negative impact on other sectors in the UK economy. Note, however, that cert…

South African thespian, Pieter-Dirk Uys performs in London this May and June

Since 1985 satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys has performed in London (mainly at the Tricycle Theatre, sometimes at the old Donmar Warehouse and now at the Soho Theatre) around twenty times with his one-man shows; sometimes with his plays. It’s a city that knows him well and he returns to London in June, this time without his usual armour of false eyelashes, extreme characters and their sketches which helped to deflect the poison arrows of government censorship and political correctness throughout the years of apartheid and even now in the present kleptocracy of the Rainbow Nation. Now in his 72nd year, he no longer glances back at the successes and failures that have strengthened his belief in a constant improvement of his work, but at those small signposts that throughout his life subconsciously have pointed him in a right and original direction – growing up in a white South Africa with his Afrikaner father and his German-Jewish mother, confronting diverse influences on him from gran…

A re-invented, revived version of SA’s best-loved shoe is now available in the UK and Europe

South Africans abroad – this good news is for you! - Actually, it’s good news for anybody who wants to own a pair of SA’s most loved and well-known shoes – the humble (and highly sought after) VELDSKOEN™ are now available online. A bit more about the shoe The company has revived and re-invented the classic brown leather shoe by adding soles and laces in eight bright colours. Now you can get yourself a pair delivered straight to your door all over Europe and the UK! The shoes – which come in red, green, blue, pink, yellow, orange, and the more traditional black and grey – launched in South Africa exactly a year ago, in April 2017, and will now be leaving tracks all over Europe after the official UK and European launch in London, at the end of April 2018. How the shoe was reborn Company founders, Nick Dreyer and Ross Zondagh decided to make their own, updated version of the South African classic in August 2016, while watching the Olympic Games. They saw that the South A…

SA rugbyspeler vir hoë Engelse toekening benoem

ʼn Speler wat vir Suid-Afrika se naasbestes uitgedraf het, voor hy sy rugbyheil in Engeland gaan soek het, is vir ʼn hoë Engelse toekenning benoem. Ruan Ackermann (22), die seun van die Springbok Johann Ackermann, is een van vyf spelers op die lys waaruit die toekenning vir die Premierliga se vonds van die jaar gedoen sal word. Hy speel vir die klub Gloucester, wat deur sy pa afgerig word. Ackermann jr., wat deur sommige as ʼn toekomstige Engelse toetsspeler beskou word, is glo een van die gunstelinge om die toekenning te wen. Hy het reeds vier wedstryde vir die Barbarians gespeel – onder meer teen die Springbokke (2016) en die All Blacks (2017) – en het verlede jaar twee wedstryde vir Suid-Afrika A gespeel.

Are you eligible for a British passport?

Fast facts about British nationality for South Africans - You could be eligible for British passport if you were: Born to a parent (father or mother) who was born in the UK before 1983. Born before 1983 to a parent who was born after 1949 – as long as that parent Was a British citizen, or Had a parent born in the UK Born in South Africa after 31 May 1962 but before 1983, and you have a UK-born grandparent Born after 1948, and your parents were married before 1949 and your paternal grandfather (your father’s father) was born in the UK Born between 2 March 1970 and 18 April 1980 in (Southern) Rhodesia, and you have a grandfather born in the UK.

South Africans and the National Insurance Number

South Africans who are relocating to the United Kingdom sometimes get strangled in the paperwork and red-tape involved with their relocation. One of the topics on which the consultants at Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants often get questions is the National Insurance Number. We have compiled a short article for South Africans relocating to the UK, on the issue of the National Insurance number. The National Insurance Number The National Insurance (NI) number is unique for every person. You will keep your NI number for life, and the number will only be used for one person. It consists of numbers and letters and is allocated by the Department for Works and Pensions. The NI number is used by the HM Revenue & Customs and the Department for Works and Pensions to identify persons. The number also ensures that NI and tax contributions are recorded against the record of the correct person and that the correct amount of tax and NI are paid by every person. The National Insur…

Moving abroad: The top five cities South Africans should consider

As beautiful as South Africa can be, sometimes you’ve just got to fly the nest. So with the help of Nestpick, we’re looking at some of the most attractive options for those of us considering moving abroad. Compared to previous generations, we have been lucky enough to travel around the world for many different reasons, either for pleasure and curiosity of exploring what we can find behind the doors of our comfort zone or simply for gap years or educational exchanges. Whichever your reason might be and even though most popular destinations among expats include Australia, USA, UK and New Zealand, there are some top cities that definitely attract a larger audience of expats eager to live and work abroad. Nestpick, a search aggregator for apartment rentals all over the world, has analysed different factors in some of the most attractive cities for expats in order to assess the costs of renting a flat there and furnishing it. The best cities for South Africans moving abroad: Lo…