Moving Abroad - Australia vs America

movinghelp

I'm looking for some opinions, ideally from people who have lived in London and moved to New York, Melbourne or Sydney or vice versa.

I live in London with my OH and have done for 5 years. I would like to move abroad to work ideally for 2 years but can be longer/shorter. I love London but would like a new challenge and now feels like the right point in my career and personal life (no kids, flat would be easy to rent out).

My company is global and has offices in all three potential destinations but so far I have only visited Melbourne. I would of course go to Sydney or New York before I upped sticks and moved.

Current thoughts are:

NY - pros: best for my career (US is most advanced market, there is a role available on a client I would love to work on), closest to UK (important as my sister is having a baby), most like London in terms of 'buzz'. Cons: I have no contacts there, very long hours/short holidays work culture so little time to travel around the country, likely to be very difficult for my OH to get permission to work, expensive particularly housing

Melbourne - pros: great atmosphere, near to my godmother, cheapest housing of the three, probably best option for a nicer 'quality of life'. Visa much easier so OH could work. Cons: whilst weather is better than NY/London still very changeable, very far from home, unlikely to hugely progress my career but wouldn't be a barrier

Sydney - pros: fantastic weather and beaches, big city feel similar to London/NY, OH sister is moving here. As above re work (probably slightly better rep vs Melbourne) and OH visa. Cons: more expensive than Melbourne but cheaper than NY, very far

missbiggles1

Could you possibly clarify your plans re timescale because at one point you say 2 years, more or less, at another you say permanently. The advice is likely to be different if you're planning to be away for a couple of years from if you're planning to emigrate.

movinghelp

Thanks for flagging, I'll amend. Definitely short term ideally 2 years and I'm not ruling out trying to do both.

movinghelp

Just in case it helps the kind of things I'm trying to weigh up are distance from uk (and time diff), weather, accommodation costs, viability for OH to work, travel opportunities, salary, holiday allowance, commute time etc.

SW17

I'd say you've taken most of the main points to consider into account, it's really for you and your OH to decide how much weighting to give to each of them.

My view on your 3 options as cities is that your summary to date is reasonably accurate. I've lived in Sydney (but only for months rather than years, a number of visits since) and spent a lot of time visiting NYC, only a few visits to Melbourne. If you like big city buzz then definitely Sydney over Melbourne, though NYC over both (NYC most similar to London of the 3). On distance, Australia is a long (and expensive) way if you want to physically see family back home regularly, though perhaps less of a burden if you don't have kids to pay for as well. If your company funds travel home, this becomes less of an issue. I may have stayed in Sydney if it were not for the distance, but that was before the Internet, Skype etc were really going. The world is a smaller place now.

However, my main comment is the consideration of how your OH will find it. One of the biggest reasons for expat assignments not working out is the family not settling, so if for example the OH will be miserable because they can't work, you could quickly find yourself having to make some diffcult choices. Be very realistic and honest with each other about this aspect, and you are more likely to make a successful decision. All 3 of these cities are great places to spend time in their own right.

richardw

Check the US working visa situation, sometimes if they believe an American can do the job, you won't get a visa.

Love NY, dislike the very cold and very hot weather.

Sydney, great harbour city, dislike the sometimes unfriendly aloof locals.

Melbourne, Australia's best city for culture, has winter though.

movinghelp

Yes I would need to be sponsored by my current company as an H1B visa is almost impossible. Hence why my OH would be very unlikely to be able to work. Oz is much easier, you can get de facto visa without being married (which we aren't) on the back of my skilled worker visa.

This probably is the biggest factor. If I was travelling alone I would probably chose US, with him Oz makes more sense.

richardw

Australia has easy flight opportunities for Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Vietnam aswell as Aus and NZ and the South Pacific. I'd hate to be in NY without earning my own money.

boliston

I think the massive distance would put me off australia so definitely NYC would be my choice, been there a few times for holidays and have liked it. I would not really want to live in other parts of the US - San francisco is nice but too far really (12 hour flight!)

Doshwaster

richardw wrote: »

Check the US working visa situation, sometimes if they believe an American can do the job, you won't get a visa.

It's fairly easy if done as an internal transfer within a company. The employer will just argue that the business need you to move to another country. We move people around the world all of the time. Working for a global company can be a great way of seeing the world.

The problem you would have is if you lost your job while abroad as you'd have no rights to remain.

EssexExile

I wouldn't mention New York & Sydney in the same breath, they are so different. I don't like big cities much so hated New York. I found Sydney to be a cosy little city by comparison. If you want the big city feel I'd discount Sydney, on the other hand if you want easy access to the terrific great outdoors then Sydney's the one.