What does emigrating to South Africa cost?
Answer three questions and you have an honest range for your situation. Every item shows whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. Life itself is considerably cheaper in South Africa. The money is in the container, the pet and private health insurance. The car isn't among them, because it isn't allowed into the country.
Looking for the whole route to South Africa, not just the costs? See the steps, the order and the paperwork →
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 2.300 – € 8.400
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 1.500 – € 5.000
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 450 – € 2.400
- De verhuizing
- € 400 – € 1.000
- De eerste maanden
- € 1.500 – € 5.000
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Visa, certificates and apostilles(estimate)€ 150 – € 1.200
The cost depends on your visa route and on whether you hire help. The visa fees and service charges vary by route and are published by the embassy. Add the police clearance certificates (± € 30-60 per document with apostille), the international civil-status extracts and, on the financially independent route, an accountant's statement. On the slower routes an agent or immigration lawyer is no luxury. Expect several hundred to well over a thousand euros extra for one. The financially independent route, for people who live on their own wealth, also carries a fee of R 120,000 after approval. That fee falls outside the amount above.
- Private health insurance (visa requirement)(estimate)€ 300 – € 1.200
This item covers the first months of premium, which you already pay before and around the application. South Africa is not a treaty country: there is no S1 (the form with which the Netherlands pays for your care abroad) and no CAK route. The visa file also requires proof of medical cover. Expect € 100 to € 400 per person per month for a medical aid (a South African health insurance scheme) or an international policy. The amount depends on income, family and plan.
De verhuizing
- Travel(estimate)€ 400 – € 1.000
You fly a good eleven hours direct to Cape Town. There is no jet lag: the time difference is nil to one hour. Expect several hundred euros per ticket. Take hold luggage for the first weeks, because the container takes six to ten weeks.
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 1.500 – € 5.000
Rents are low by Dutch standards: a one-bedroom flat in Cape Town costs the equivalent of € 400 to € 700, and less in Johannesburg. The deposit is one to two months. Add the bridging period until the container arrives, the utility connections and the armed-response subscription: a security service that sends armed responders when an alarm goes off. In many neighbourhoods that is standard. The medical aid premium also keeps running. The rand exchange rate makes every euro conversion a snapshot.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 2 to 8% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 5.000 to € 20.000.
Foreigners buy freely, under the same rules as South Africans. Transfer duty only starts above R 1,210,000. Above that it rises in bands to 13% for the top segment. On an ordinary family home the effective burden stays modest. Add the conveyancer (the lawyer who handles the transfer, ± 1-2%) and the registration. The real buying wisdom here is not fiscal but local: rent in the neighbourhood for six months first. Safety and value differ sharply from one neighbourhood to the next.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
The rates in this calculation haven't been checked against the official sources yet.
Ready to get started with South Africa?
The whole journey in the right order, with your documents, your costs and all your cancellation letters. € 399 one-off, no subscription.
Also want to know whether your departure date is feasible, and where you start? Take the departure scan for South Africa →
One thing you can sort out today
Closing down the Netherlands is the same work for everyone, wherever you're going. With the letter pack you enter your details once, and every cancellation and notification letter is ready: health insurance, rent, employer, bank, pension fund. Each comes with the date by which it has to go out. € 49 one-off, and it's also included in every plan.
In Vertrekklaar you get the complete picture of your own costs, with your route, your documents and your deadlines.
From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with three questions. The journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates with your real situation: who's coming, whether the household contents come along, and whether the pet comes along. And it watches the clocks: the six months the police certificates are valid, the two months of the pet permit, and the renewal sixty days before expiry. A one-off € 399, no subscription.
Leaving with AOW or a pension? Compare how countries tax your pension
Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for South Africa: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for South Africa change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, send one offer, and now and then one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
64 journeys are fully ready: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, and the plan keeps an eye on your deadlines. You pay once, and then it's yours.