AIBU to want us to move to Australia in later life?

This is exactly what I would do in OPs situation or twice a year for 2 months at a time

And she would have to buy a new build, as foreigners are not allowed to buy existing houses.

Surely managing a property in Australia would be a nightmare. Maintenance , taxes, sorting any problems from afar- no thanks. Just have a long holiday there once a year.

This seems to me like the most reasonable and practicable solution.

OK thanks.

I think you need to take into account here that the thing that currently draws you to wanting to live there - the fact that your DD is there - has no draw whatsoever for your DH.

He's lived his entire life here, is settled in the place, the lifestyle, the customs. He presumably has friends and other family here. You expect him to want to just throw all that away and work out how to live in a completely new country he has no experience of, just because your daughter is there? Why would he?

Sorry but I think YABVU. There's just no reasonable basis for expecting him to be OK with it. Whether it's worth leaving him for and going there on your own is another question. Only you can answer that, although it does seem like you're highly unsuited to each other and like you have strangely little willingness to look at things from his point of view.

Whether this changes if your DD3 emigrates is another question again, but she hasn't done that so it isn't a reality he has to adjust to.

I say all this as someone who emigrated myself, has lived in a number of different countries and has experience of the challenges involved.

How long could you stay without a visa for each trip? Could it be feasible for you to spend half the year there and half here?

I have dreams of living in a particular country when my kids fly the nest but DH doesn’t share those dreams so that’s what I’m currently plotting to do. Split my year. If you have a long, happy marriage, a bit of distance won’t do any harm.

It would be very sad to live out your remaining years away from your children and grandchildren. I don’t think I could do that so I completely understand where you’re coming from.

He won’t move.

No YANBU. My DH is Australian. He has not lived in Aus for years. We can't afford to live there while the kids are still dependent on us (and in education) but our kids will probably go to Uni in Aus when the time comes (where they will be treated as welcomed Aus citizens and domestic students as opposed to the batshit UK system). We will move there when I retire. I have also lived overseas for years (still do) and see no joy in retiring to the UK or being a young adult in the UK either.

Go for it. We will when the time comes. I will probably do an onshore spousal application when the and live there on a bridging visa until the visa is approved and they can take as long as they like. Not worried about this aspect all.

Absolutely YANBU to want to do do this (despite all the unsolicited visa advice)!

Yes, Australia seems to have a wonderful outdoors type of life. Totally see the attraction for younger people with children. You, like me, are older people. The heat over there is oppressive. UK summers are very long days in mild nice weather. From about Easter to Halloween pretty ok. Sure Nov, Jan-Feb are depressing. Rain is actually a good thing. You’re describing your daughter’s idyllic poolside with the worst picture of the UK.

By comparison with the west coast of Ireland you’ve zero rain!

Can you give 5 negatives of Oz and be realistic.

The child resident in Oz 9 years is not a child of the husband.

I've been scanning the pages of the Department of Home Affairs with all its visa subclasses, out of interest. Because what you were proposing seemed so improbable, I couldn't understand it.

Right, but you can't even apply for the parent visa until the second child has lived in Australia for two years - so you are really getting ahead of yourself.

A yearly visit for several months is probably a better choice.

Not really, but she enjoyed the cooler days and managed to find some sort of lifestyle
my
brother went to see if he wanted to emigrate, he moved around a few times and come home, didn’t want that lifestyle

I did see that, it's just that you're saying this as if you'd have the option, when you don't. There is no way for you to live there permanently that I can see. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am.

The child IS resident already, it’s another one thinking about moving. HTH.

Yes, they do.

Child 1: Already there for 9 years, so they are well past the 2-year mark and can act as Op's sponsor/settled child right away.

Child 2: Must wait out the remainder of their 2-year window living lawfully in Australia before their presence counts toward the official "settled sponsor" criteria for a permanent parent application.

Once the second child reaches that 2-year residency threshold, both parts of the equation (the Balance of Family test and the settled sponsor requirement) will be fully satisfied, allowing Op to proceed with an application.

BUT.....Op can't apply for the Aged Parent visa from within Australia, because if she was in Australia, she would be holding a Visitor Visa, and this visa has a clause (8503) which prohibits this. So basically, she can only apply for the Aged parent visa if she is OUTSIDE of Australia, and this can take up to 33 years to be approved.

She won't get to choose. She won't get in to Australia as a permanent resident.

Thank you for all this. It is a complicated process that is rather hard to understand. In my reading it stated that the sponsoring family member had to have lived in Australia for at least 2 years - would that require the other daughter who would make up the necessary percentage of offspring in Australia to have lived there for 2 years also, do you think?

I would definitely not go if my youngest daughter could not get a visa to go there permanently

You would not be able to apply for a parent visa if your youngest didn't go! Don't you realise that?

Then i think OP will either be looking at dividing her time between the UK and Aus, or going alone.

I understand that farmers feel a connection to their land, to the family history, that is stronger than ties to living children and grandchildren. i think OP may have to accept that she will have to choose.

As I understand it, you won't be able to apply for a Parent visa if you are inside Australia on a visitor visa - this is condition 8503. To even attempt this, you'd have to secure a visitor visa without condition 8503 and the Department of Home Affairs officers scrutinise those closely if they suspect someone is trying migration shortcuts.

You also cannot apply for the Parent visa in England and then get a visitor visa on top to travel.

You could apply for the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) Visa (Subclass 870): This allows parents to stay in Australia for up to 3 or 5 years at a time. While it does not lead to permanent residency and requires an approved sponsor, it allows for multiple entries depending on the visa grant, though holders must still abide by overall stay limits and conditions.

Or

Longer Validity Visitor Visas: Parents in the parent visa queue (such as the subclass 103 queue) offshore can sometimes be considered for extended tourist stream visitor visas (allowing cumulative stays of up to 12 months in an 18-month period over a multi-year validity window), though these still require strict adherence to "genuine visitor" rules and time-out-of-Australia requirements.

I don't think there's any way for you to actually live there. But with the 2 visa's above you could stay for a very long time, but I think the cap is 10 years. So for eg, you could maybe get the sponsored parent visa twice for 5 years, but then you would have to leave.

Of course you can't even start the parent visa until your other daughter moves there, because at present only 33% of your children are there.

I have a DD in Australia. Melbourne too actually. DH and I plan to visit for 3 months every winter once we have retired. It'll be summer over there, so that's perfect. I don't think it's wise to sell up and have all this angst about visa's. Bear in mind that your DD could easily move and then you'd be stuck there with no family.

I think the Department who approve visa's are quite selective and they are not processed in the order they are submitted. My DD and her DH applied for permanent residency a few months ago, and it was granted yesterday - very fast. Her colleague from India applied almost 2 years ago and has heard nothing.

Does he have ties - lifelong friendships, extended family etc - that make it more daunting for him to consider leaving?

He's a farmer, who has lived his entire life on his farm. His family have been there for 100 years. He doesn't even want to go to Australia for a holiday!

I think you probably ARE BU if you have only just raised this with your DH and it was never discussed as a possibility before now? Assuming you can both get a family Visa and pass the fitness criteria, his willingness to go may depend on whether his daughter does succeed in emigrating too? Does he have ties - lifelong friendships, extended family etc - that make it more daunting for him to consider leaving? he may, rightly, be concerned about his ability to form a new social network at his age so I’d try not to be dismissive of his reluctance and loo at whether there are bowls/cricket/hobby clubs that he could become actively involved with to facilitate that.