We moved to Perth in 2008, returned to Scotland in 2009. Started getting itchy feet in late 2009. In between then and now we've gone back and forth in our heads, should we, shouldn't we?!? Now we have 9 months left in the visa with no chance of another shot. I'm 33 and hubby is 45. We've visited Melbourne as my OHs brother and family have recently moved there and I loved it. All I can hear is the tick tock of the visa and it's freaking me out! Some days I want to burn the bloody thing, some days I'm thankful for another option. To complicate matters I was recently diagnosed with a tumour (benign thankfully!) but this has added to my "life's too short" mantra.

Anyone else in or been in a similar situation? How did you feel when the visa finally elapsed?

Thanks! Sandersons.

No-one huh?

Perhaps you are literally the only people that ever did this Seriously, only you can weigh this one up. Look at it this way. You know all the facts already. You have lived in both countries. You know the deal when the visa runs out. I have experience of a visa expiring. In my case you don't regret it straight away, because you have just made the decision to let it run out and you based that decision on logic. However, as time passes you might start to question that logic and then regret the decision you made.

So advice from me would be, whatever you decide, learn to live with it and make the best of things without regret. More practically, I believe in keeping options open, so would lean towards keeping the visa alive. However, moving internationally is expensive, exhausting, and difficult in terms of establishing a new life and missing family goes without saying.

Over to you!

I don't have experience of a visa expiring, but do of ping ponging. We moved to Sydney in 2005, back to the UK in 2007 and then returned to Sydney in 2010. We moved over here originally just for the experience and returned to the UK as that's what we'd always planned to do. We arrived back in the UK in July 2007 and by the November had decided that we wanted to move back again.

In lots of ways, it's been easier making the move this time. There are definitely no rose tinted glasses about either Aus or the UK; it's been a very rational, logical move. We knew what to expect this time, which definitely made things easier. (Although I did still experience homesickness for the first couple of months after we arrived.)

I guess it depends on why you left Scotland originally and why you decided to return. Nothing either here or there really changes, so it needs you to have changed to make it different this time, I think.

Not sure that helps at all, but good luck with your decision.

Close your eyes and imagine the visa gone.

If you mind does this then its time to give it another go.

I understand the pull, been there and back again, sometimes it takes a while to find what you need. Don't beat yourself up, if you want to go again, just go.

Good luck (either way)

Can you come for a holiday to keep the visa alive, as i think if it expired you would be hard pushed to get another due to your husbands age.

Unlikely - they'd need a RRV, which in turn requires close links to Australia and in any case would only be granted for a year. Really the decision has to be stay or go.

I think whatever you do, you will have some regrets; you just have to learn to live with them and try not to think "what if....".

The only way for us to keep the visa going, I believe, is to move to Oz and become permanent residents after 4 years. But like you said this is an expensive option in many ways. Thank you for your advice, it's much appreciated!

Thank you!

Margaret - as Louie says below it's not likely we can extend our visa in any way. I think once it's gone, it's gone and that's that.

Yeah, I think you're right Louie. Once the visa runs out that's that. So, maybe it's going to be about how we deal with our regrets (either way) than anything else? I've thought "what if..." a million times over haha!!

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it. Yet another discussion with OH to see what we come up with this time!

Sandersons

Sorry for the messy replies above - I've multi-quoted wrong! There's some replies within your quoted replies....apologies!

Sandersons

I was gutted when my visa expired
But due to various circumstances I didn't go back.

If you really want to go, then do it. Yes, it may cost but at least you won't have any regrets.

Good Luck.

If you come back to Oz and for any reason you don't want to stay here, you can always go back to the UK.

If your visa expires you will never get back to Oz.

So if you can afford it, I'd be inclined to keep the visa alive. But then I'm speaking as one who has Oz citizenship as well as UK and has no desire to go back to the UK to live as all my children and grandchildren are over here.

As others have said, you just need to make your decision and move forward positively from there. "What if I'd done A instead of B" has to be the most pointless piece of backward thinking - you chose B, so look at all the positive results from making that choice and put A out of your mind.

I think you've done really well, i've been on here for years and still cant multi-quote Goodluck whatever you decide.

Basic questions:

1. Can you afford to come back.
2. Will you find jobs easily here.
3. Do you have a good standard of living there.
4. Do you own your house or are you renting.
5. What will you do with your property if you currently own it.
6. If you move back over, will you be able to afford to move back if work
etc doesn't work out as planned.
If you answer those and it's viable to come back then come back. If any of those make things awkward then stay put.

No one likes the loss of an opportunity or a safety net but unless your life is broken where you are and you can afford to take a risk then don't bother trying to fix it - salve the itchy feet with nice long holidays instead. Sometimes you just have to draw a line under a lost opportunity and look forward with what you have got. No it isn't comfortable but in the long run it is just your life getting on with it while you waste time agonising over plans.

I think if you are older and potentially have health problems then Australia is not really the place you want to be TBH. (edited to say, you aren't old, of course, but your OH is knocking on a bit LOL)