Planning to move London to Melbourne, advice needed!
For context my wife and I (both 30) currently live in London. My family is in Ireland and her family is in India. She is 3 years into her spouse visa for naturalisation (out of 5 needed for PR). She used to be living in Australia on a student visa and loved it over there.
Currently the big benefit is how close we are to my family, and an 8 hour flight from her family. We can fly into Europe cheaply and quickly. But every winter / cold period in London roughly from late September all the way to April we wish the weather was better.
We are both in good, stable jobs, decent pay.
I've recently done an interview for a company in Australia, and I got the job. I was applying here and there to see eventually if someone would sponsor me and got there sooner than expected (482 visa).
Now we are both very confused as the move would put me a 22 hour flight away from my family, while the flight to her family changes only a bit, from 8 currently to 12 hours.
Downsides / fears of moving
My parents, sister, niece and nephew are all in Ireland so I'm afraid of being away for long stretches and don't know realistically if we can figure out flying to Ireland and India and choosing between each. If we do 1 flight each year to either India or Ireland we can potentially get parents to visit us on the alternating year.
For my wife she will need to find a new job there.
If we go to Australia we will be on 482 visa so less benefits like Medicare (we can get a lite version of this because we are UK residence through the reciprocal healthcare act). The timeline will be probably 2 years on 482, then sponsored for 186, maybe approved by 2.5 year mark. I'm trying to get a written guarantee of 186 sponsorship. In London if we spend 2 more years she will get PR then citizenship after a year.
If we plan to have a child while we're on 482 we are partially covered by medicare but no state child benefit or maternity pay. And companies won't pay maternity until I assume 6 months into a job.
Benefits of moving
The benefit of Melbourne are, warmer weather (than London), much bigger houses (avg house we viewed in London are 1000 sqft / 100 sqm). I will get paid 15% more + super on top but part of this will be eaten up by flight costs.
I've read a bit about people wanting to move back due to aging parents so I'm thinking I might feel the same a few years down the line.
Has anyone been in a similar situation, how did you make it work, and did you find flying long haul manageable?
TLDR;
We are living in London and considering moving to Melbourne after I unexpectedly got a job offer there sooner than I thought.
London pros:
- Close to my family in Ireland.
- 8-hour flight to wife's family in India.
- Both have stable, well-paying jobs.
- Wife is 3/5 years into the UK spouse visa route to PR/citizenship.
Melbourne pros:
- Much better/warmer weather.
- Bigger, more affordable homes.
- I will get ~15% higher salary + super.
- Australia is only slightly farther from her family (12h vs 8h).