Readiness assessment — the Fourie family (fictional example)
Immigrate to Canada · two adults, two children (9 and 13)

Dear Anje and Pieter,

Thank you for your answers — they were thorough, and that makes this assessment sharper. Our verdict: not ready yet — but only about eight months of ordered work away. You are closer than you think on documents, further than you think on money, and your timeline is about six months too optimistic. Here is the detail, and the order to fix it in.

1. Where you are strong. Your document file is ahead of most families at this stage: passports valid past 2030, unabridged certificates already applied for (keep those Home Affairs receipts safe), and Pieter’s trade papers complete and in one place. Your language test bookings for October are sensibly early.

2. The money picture, honestly. Your R1.4m from the house sale reads as your whole plan, but your own numbers show R380,000 of it already committed to debt and the bakkie. Working from your answers, we cost your realistic landing fund at R860,000–R950,000 after moving costs — tight but workable for the cities you named, provided you rent for the first two years. We would not sign the house transfer before your other milestones firm up: you listed a 4-month transfer, and being cashless in month 5 with nowhere confirmed to go is the single most expensive mistake in your current plan.

3. Timeline. You are aiming for July next year. Working backwards from your own answers — Dubai police clearance not yet requested (allow 3+ months), school reports still to be certified, and the certificates at Home Affairs — a realistic window is early the following year. That is not bad news: it puts your landing at the start of a school term instead of mid-year, which your 13-year-old will thank you for.

4. Your documents, item by item. Passports: valid to 2031 and 2033 — done. Unabridged birth certificates: applied March, receipts kept — chase monthly, in person. Marriage certificate: not yet applied for — do it this month, same queue. Dubai police clearance (Pieter, 2015–2017): not started — longest lead item, start now. School reports: last two years in hand, final term still to be certified. Language tests: booked for October — good. Trade papers: complete. That is seven items, two done, three in motion, two not started — which is exactly what your score of 6.5 is made of.

5. The house, the kids, the order. Your instinct to sell first and rent locally for the last six months is the right one — it separates the two most stressful events in the move. On schools: your 13-year-old’s term dates matter more than your job start date, and your revised timeline lands them at a term start. Budget R25,000–R40,000 for the first winter kit and school setup for both kids — families consistently under-budget this line.

6. Do these five things next, in this order. (1) Request Pieter’s UAE police clearance this week — it is your longest lead item. (2) Chase the unabridged certificates monthly, in person, with receipts. (3) Open the separate moving-fund account you mentioned and stop the plan drifting into daily spending. (4) Get the kids’ school reports certified this term, not next. (5) Only then set the house-listing date.

7. What to do first, and what we would do next. Start the police clearance this month — it is the longest queue in your plan and everything else waits behind it. Order the unabridged certificates in the same week. Book the language test before the December rush. If you would rather not run that chase yourselves, that is exactly what our Visa Paperwork Pack is for — and the R3,499 you paid for this report comes off it.

Sterkte — you are building this on rock, not sand.