Tag Archives: Emigration

All about the EB-5, America’s investment visa program

All about the EB-5, America's investment visa program

Most of you know by now that when we made our move from South Africa to Arizona in 2017, we used the I-130 visa to do so. This is a special kind of green card that’s issued to family members of US citizens, such as partners and children. Harley already had her American citizenship, so it was only Dean who needed the green card, which you can read more about over here.

But I often get emails and other messages from you all. You ask about other ways to get to the US if you don’t have a partner who is a citizen. And for a long time, I honestly didn’t have any answers other than to try for the Green Card lottery, or maybe see if you can get a job that will do the work for you. But now I have a solution that will work for some of you. Granted, it’s not a fit for everyone, but there is indeed a way to buy your way in.

(Full disclosure: This post was sponsored, as becomes clear below. But since so many of you have written to me about this topic, I thought it might be helpful for some of you.) Continue Reading

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A year in the States – A year since we emigrated from SA

A year in the States - A year since we emigrated from SA

(Photo credit: LeeAnn Stromyer with LeeAnn K Photography // @Leeann_K_Photography)

A year ago, we left South Africa. One year ago, we got on a plane with 3 suitcases while 10 boxes were making their way to us on a slow boat. We had our essentials, leaving a country that was our home for about 10 years to make a new life in the States.

I can’t decide if a year is a long time or not. I suppose I have to stop saying that we are new in the country, or recently emigrated. Continue Reading

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How I’m using social media to build real friendships

How I'm using social media to build real friendships

I’ve talked before about how moving is hard and making friends takes time. Whether you’ve lived somewhere for a long time or you’re new in an area, forging new social connections can be scary, complicated and totally daunting. I know a lot of you appreciated my advice on how to grow meaningful connections, so I thought I’d share a little about how I’m using social media to build real friendships. Like, actual burgeoning connections and stuff.

To be honest, before we left for the States, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Facebook. It was just so cluttered with crap, and most of my day to day friends weren’t on there much. I preferred twitter, and I still do, for news, silly interactions and fun quips. I was trying to get into Instagram, and it’s still something I’m trying to do more of, but it just feels like a serious time sink for me. It feels like you have to be on Instagram ALL THE TIME to actually see anything worthwhile. But my social media game changed a lot by moving. Continue Reading

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Moving to the States – the first four months

four months

I know we all talk about how time moves so quickly, especially when we have kids. This is still totally true, but moving has just highlighted this for me. Four months ago, we got to the States. Four months ago, we left our life in South Africa behind. So much has happened since moving to the States, I thought I’d at least try to pause and look back.

On the one hand, I keep talking about all the things I want to do, to buy, the ways I still need to settle in. And yet, in just four months, we’ve gotten all our American admin sorted and set up our home. Sure, I still need certain things around the house and I’m still getting used to it all, but at the core, we are up and running here in the States. Continue Reading

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Starting over

starting over in new home

There’s this research that was done back in the 60s all about the amount of stress people go through with various life events. Holmes-Rahe is often mentioned, even by those who don’t know the details of it, to talk about how death, marriage, divorce, pregnancy, and birth can all be so stressful and life-altering that they put a serious toll on the person or people involved. I looked up the stress inventory, as it’s called, and moving or changing residence is towards the bottom of the list. Clearly, these researchers had no idea what they were talking about – starting over in a new country has been one of the most tumultuous things I’ve ever done.

It’s not just the physical moving that’s been difficult, although of course, that has as well. Moving day was a nightmare, one that was compounded by the fact that we were getting on a plane at the end of it. But it’s so, so much more than that. There was all the stress of leaving, the stress of getting things done when we arrived, and only now that we are slowly settling in am I finally unpacking it all – literally and figuratively. Continue Reading

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