Elaine77

Most of the immigrants to the UK though are not from Australia or Canada or even the USA...

Good idea about checking why people return though.....I think il do just that!

christmasoompa

The numbers aren't that different though - 39,000 that moved to Australia, v 30,000 Aussies that moved here.

I'm not sure the figures will tell you much, unless it's that Americans or Canadians tend not to travel as much as Europeans!

Good luck with it all.

SanDiegogirl

Sorry, don't agree with this.

Hubby and I moved to the US, not because we disliked the UK or had any major grievances with it, but because it was a great opportunity to work and live in a country we had visited many times and were keen to experience more of.

I'm sure many others have done the same.

Rosemary

I disagree with you on this. My husband had spent a lot of holidays in Spain prior to us getting married and when he was getting near to retirement age he talked about the fact that he would like to experience living in another country even if only for a short time. He took early retirement and we felt that this was a good time to gain that experience. Neither of us left the UK because of anything we did not like, neither of us were pro Spain and neither of us were wearing rose tinted glasses, this was purely taking life by the horns and giving it a shake to see what happened.

Well what happened was that we both enjoyed the experience, to my surprise I settled very quickly and love living here. My husband also loved living here but unfortunately I will never know who might have started talking about returning to the UK because he died this year. At the moment I have decided that I will remain here but not because I have any thing against the UK but purely because I have made a life here that suits me and I want to maintain it for the time being.

Rosemary

Geordie George

+1 - we moved to Sydney because we could, not because we were unhappy in the UK. The UK is a great place. Just as Australia is. They're both first world countries. And both have the same problems - there is a benefits culture here, schools have drugs and bullying problems etc. Polly's spot on - same shit, shinier bucket.

OP, if you think NZ is too far, don't consider Australia. It's a long, expensive way from Blighty. And it's not utopia. Aus is very expensive. Our bills here are considerably more expensive than they were in the UK. Particularly housing - in my part of Sydney, rents are crazy (a decent 3 bed house starts at around $700 per week and can easily go well above $1000 pw). Yep, wages are higher but that's because the COL is so much more here. All up, financially speaking, there's no difference between here and the UK for us. Australia has a very strong work ethic, too. Plenty of people here work hard and long hours - exactly the same as the UK. You also mentioned needing to find a sponsor for your visa, which sounds like you're thinking of a 457. In that case, depending on which state you settled in, you may need to factor in paying for schooling into your costs (about $4500 pa per child for public schools here in NSW).

Having read this forum for a long time now, I've seen enough posters come and go to see a trend. Those who leave the UK to escape something - those with a negative view of the place - are much more likely to return to the UK than those who leave for the pull (the positives) of the place they move to.

And on that note, I'm off to book my daughter a GP's appointment. That's going to cost me $60 for a 5 minute consultation. I can't believe that people complain about the NHS ...

Dorothy

It's also more difficult for Canadians (not sure about Australians) to emigrate to UK. My husband and I first wanted to move to England but didn't qualify for a visa. You also have to factor in that there are over 60 million Brits, but only 60 million Australians and Canadians COMBINED. Do you think this might have anything to do with the numbers at all?
+2. We moved from Canada to Australia because we could. I have lived in both Australia and Canada and can attest to the very high cost of living here in Australia. While wages may be higher so is the cost of everything else. Housing is incredibly expensive, food shopping, flights home to visit family - or even flights within Australia! I just flew from Perth to Sydney last week and it was over $300 each way.

OP, I really think you need to look at the official government immigration websites for the places you are interested in and see whether you qualify for visas before you get your hopes of moving up any higher. Your husband's mentor may have looked at something and told your husband he could move, but unless you have actually worked it out for yourselves I would say take it with a pinch of salt. Honestly, a college mentor and an official government resource are 2 very different kettles of fish.

Shelld79

Hi

Shelld79

Sorry christmasooma!
You said your husband is in the renewable energy? My husband was a solar panel engineer in uk and we are considering moving to Canada and I was wandering if there is much of this work???

christmasoompa

Not sure on solar (he's a project/technical director in the wind industry) but I can ask him if he has any idea.

I'll get back to you.........

alcordia1

I heard that the life style in usa is not easy to begin..is that true?

mikelincs

The biggest problem with the USA is qualifying to get a visa to move and work there, one of the hardest countries in the world to get into, especially if you're from a country that doesn't get chances in the Green Card Lottery.