South African wants to move to Poland, please provide some input?

Oh, yes RubasznyRumcajs! I know basically fluent Dutch and can meander a bit through Afrikaans, despite the legion false friends between the two languages:-) In most of Scandinavia, English is so widespread, I've even experienced Swedes and Danes chatting together in English, blissfully unaware of how ridiculous it sounds or even how their mistakes aren't picked up by the other, unless really egregious.

Afrikaans reminds me of 'baby Dutch', sort of in arrested development since the Southern Dutch first emigrated to South Africa in the early 1800's.

@janajakkals

A big hello to a former SAFFA! Whereabouts from South Africa are you from? I grew up in Sandown, Jozi...but left in 2008. I actually had a fellow Pole who studied Economics with me at Wits, plus my of my classmates in high school was also Polish. Othwerwise I never came across any Poles in Joburg.I am in Warsaw temporarirly, but was living in Toronto prior. I am looking at heading to London though...

Hi everyone i'm posting on behalf of my boyfriend. My boyfriend is the 4th generation in south africa that immegrated from Poland (in the WWII) and owns his own PV Solar installation company, he started this company based on different reasons, one of them is that whites can't find work in south africa and the other reason is that our currentcy has dropped against living cost in south africa. Although this business did well for the past 4 years he now wants to close it and move to Poland due to the financial fact. 1: He can't get work from private companies because he don't have a BEE status (don't have a black partner). 2: No financial institution (bank) wants to help him due to the fact that he is not BEE (don't have a black partner). Black Empowerment means that he has to give away 30 to 50% of his company depending on what level BEE status he wants. He wants to move us to Poland (we all are white) as he believes there is now future for our 3months old son in south africa. He has been talking about this for the past 2years. In the past 20 years there has been more farm murders (white people) than in WWI and WWII combined. Although he is Afrikaans speaking i believe there is still Polish blood in him, because he always stands up for those who can't stand up for themselves. He wants to start learning to speak Polish now. As he works in remote areas (installing off grid solar systems) for long periods of time in south africa he is not willing to work away anymore because he can't guarantee his families savety on the farm. I've asked him numerous times why not america, canada or new zealand but he is hard headed and wants to move back where his great great grandfather comes from. I think my big question is will Poland accept us as i'm a south african as well (and for those who wants to know we are all white and Afrikaans speaking)?

Kind Regards
A fed up South African NOT AFRICAN SOUTH AFRICAN!!!!!!

Since black is a racial slur then white is one too.

Reminds me about a joke I recently heard.

Two guys chatting.
1. Wanna hear a joke?
2. Sure.
1. K. A black guy and a white guy are walking down the street...
2. Stop! Why are you so racists towards the Afro-Americans?

Hilarious.

Sure, there is no problem with acceptance of people from different countries in Poland. Especially those of the Polish origin. The only main issue you will have to face is a language barrier. Basically in Poland people speak Polish.

That could be a real problem. Don't know about legal issues.


that could be a problem too, plus a long winter.

In my opinion there is only two issues that could be an obstacle - practicalities i.e. moving his company to Poland and making it work there, plus the language barrier.

@StanislawSA


What? I think SA is for a long slide downward to become another African shy;;;hole. what kind of discriminatory BS is that?

Ironman: my boyfriend/male (I'm a female) is fed up that we have to build a company only to give it away to blacks they don't come in when you struggle but when the business is striving. Farmers in south Africa standing a change of loosing their farms giving away 50% of there farms this is farms that has been handed over form generation to generation for the past 40 to 80years.

That sucks.

Malema say: "kill the farmer, kill the boer" "kill all whites" and nobody does anything to him. The sad part is that South Africans don't stand together neither does they stand up for our country, what did they expect we will leave the country for our children's safety

Sure, it seems like the only logical option.

it is a joke you won't believe it and the rest of the world don't hear everything but still some of them has lots to say. they can speak from first world countries for our country is a 3rd world country as far as i know

@StanislawSA

It is sad to hear about S.A. Try to persuade your husband to move to Australia, New Zealand or Canada first.
If you want to know whether you are allowed to move to a country, you can contact to its Embassy in Pretoria, they have some information on each embassy's website and follow the instruction.

Where do you live in SA?

Western australia is full of SA people. I think its a second rate state with no future but plenty of them there.

Merged:

Moving to Poland

I am a white English Speaking South African my partner is Polish and she lives in Poland wile i am in South Africa. I am wanting to move to Poland. How are the Poles to White South Africans and how willing are the Polish companies in employing one?

Does anyone have an idea on the process to moving to Poland.

Poles don't hold any prejudices towards White South Africans

the employment issue may be a problem for you - the easiest but not economically rewarding solution is to find a job teaching English - if you are an IT professsional there is a good chance of finding a job in international companies operating in Poland - wait for other suggestions some other user may have -

Most people here have never met a Saffer and do not hold particular opinions on people from RSA, whether white or any other shade of skin.

You will however need a work permit and legal residence.

I personally would welcome any White people especially ones from countries undergoing a racist genocide against them such as in South Africa. I live in America but I own land in Poland and will early retire there most likely.

yea,,i knew some South Africans,,cool people..the only problem for you might be minus 30 or colder in winter

While the average South African can hold their own in English, much the same cannot be said across the board for the Poles:-) Although the Dutch are of course another matter entirely, Warsaw ain't Amsterdam (and believe me, they don't even try), therefore learning at least basic Polish would be more or less a must:-) That'll also help out lots with jobs, digs and stuff like this.

Powodzenia, mate!

You are going to struggle to get a work permit unless you have something already lined up with a company here. Without Polish then your options will be really limited unless you have some special skill.

There are a few big SA investors here (but the biggest two Naspers and SAB have both just sold up) but you could try some of the others on the off chance, but again they will probably only want Polish speakers. Others I can think of here are Old Mutual, Pepkor, a whole load of real estate companies and I think the cable business in Warsaw is also SA owned.

As a Saffa, this is my opinion on living in Poland. I would recommend learning Polish first, at least basics is a must to get by here. However You could get by socially as the 'younger' generation below 45 have at least a basic understanding of English, with some very good English (many international companies are based here). There is probably a good opportunity to get a job with an international company but it would require you to brush up on your Polish first. There is a real shortage of labour here and companies are struggling to hire.

It is not easy moving to another country especially if you have kids. I moved from SA to UK 12 years ago and now have decide to live in Poland. Even though my Polish is bad I have been getting by just fine as My wife is Polish which makes life a hell of a lot easier dealing with the day to day things.I have been in and out of the country for the last 2 years work wise so not much chance to learn the language. Our young children love it here. We live in a small city next to the mountains. The winters are cold but at least you can go skinning. The summers are hot and will remind you of SA a little. People get outside in the summer as if it was their last, they enjoy the outdoors. Hiking, cycling, paragliding or just enjoy chilling next to a river. Its not a first world country by no means but things have changed a lot in the last 10-15 years. The 'younger' generation are generally very open to foreigners but may be a bit shy to communicate in English.

some input? Listen. Don`t come. Even if you are of European origin. Its not the moment. Poles are tolerant and all that but, right now they are under pressure.

Hi Jana

I am in the process of moving to Krakow PM me if you have moved already or still planning on going

Hi. Another South African wanting to emigrate. Well, that's not entirely accurate - I'm half Polish, quarter Scot and quarter Afrikaner. Therefore, my daughter and I have Polish citizenship. My husband is (white) Afrikaner (Dutch-French-Portuguese).

It is a given that we will need to learn Polish, especially since I have plenty of family in Poland that we would like to converse with.

I have one main question, how easy is it for professional people to find work in Poland? I have a masters degree in interior architectural design and my husband is an analytical chemist who is currently working in formulation and product development in the field of metal working fluids. Which city would be most suited to us? I'm guessing Cracow, but I have family in Wroclaw and Kedzierzyn-Kozle. I have a feeling, call it a hunch, that Katowice might be an option.

The reasons for us wanting to immigrate to Poland are twofold. Firstly, although we are qualified, hard-working and capable, my husband is working for a salary that is substantially lower than industry standard. This is due to the fact that he does not qualify as Employment Equity / Affirmative Action (he isn't black). Despite graduating with highest distinction and having 4 years design experience, I am not seeing any work coming my way. I also have experience in corporate identity, web and graphic design. We are in our early 30s.

Secondly, we are tired of living in terror. The state of the country is one where simple Neighbourhood Watch groups are having to go for semi-military training. This is especially since the policy of "Land Reclamation without Compensation" is now (violently) being put forward by political groups - the very same that chant the words "Kill The Whites".

PS. My father came to this country as an engineer in the 80s. He helped to build an industry that employed thousands of people. Since the late 90s, that industry has slowly eroded away, leaving all those people unemployed. Those people now blame the past regime for their current problems.

Thanks for any input and advice you may have to offer.

Does that mean Poles do hold prejudices towards Black South Africans?

My heart goes out to the Afrikaaners, Kamila. I have been paying attention to what is happening in S.A. You will find a few bitter self-destructive souls on this forum who hate Western civilization with a passion, almost as much as they hate themselves, but I think you will find support from a lot of Poles in your quest to escape persecution.

Because your family is white, you will receive no sympathy from the left, the media or big business so waste no time seeking help there.

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@kamilakamila

I am a ex-South African, living and working in Poland. I have to say that it will be difficult to find jobs for both of you without picking up the Polish language. The exceptions being of course if you are working for a big international company - but these sort of companies in Poland are mostly in IT, banking/finance and customer service. Poland is a growing country though, and that means lots of opportunity for entrepreneurs. When it comes to where to work, Katowice may be a option, but also Wroclaw, Poznan and definitely Warsaw will offer the best options. Krakow has big problems - smog, traffic jams and high cost of living. It is also not the easiest to get to from other cities. Warsaw is better, except the cost of living is high. Poznan, Wroclaw and Katowice all have good connections with Warsaw and with either Germany or the Czech Republic. Drop me a message if I can be of any further help.

Good day

My family and i am thinking of moving to Poland.Any advice???
We are from South Africa

Thank you

What's wrong with South Africa, Sophia?

Don't you know?