PIL want to move to Australia

[PILinOz]

I posted this on the living overseas board but I don't think it's particularly active so reposting here for traffic.

My parents in law have just come back from visiting their daughter, her husband and kids in Melbourne. They have told us that due to the health benefits of living in a warmer climate they want to move over there permanently and are seriously looking into making it happen.
We are very close to them and my kids absolutely adore them. Whenever they leave to visit, usually for a few months at a time, my kids are incredibly upset and miss them terribly. If PIL move away permanently they will be absolutely devastated.

They are in their late 60s and financially comfortable. They suffer from some health conditions. How realistic is it that they would be granted permanent residency?

I live in Melbourne. Winter days would rarely get that cold - I would say maximum would be around 15 degrees for a fair chunk of winter.

Yes, note these relevant waiting times:

immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-processing-times/family-visa-processing-priorities/parent-visas-queue-release-dates

Re the position of Melbourne, I nearly died of a massive asthma attack (have well-managed asthma) when I lived there, and my GP, whose daughters were both asthmatic, explained that due to the land formations surrounding the city pollution became trapped under certain weather conditions. It was smog, not bushfire smoke (which I get plenty of periodically where I am!).

Many have died of thunderstorm asthma, as the ambulance service was unable to cope with the callouts. Perhaps if you don't have that tendency, it is irrelevant. But I had to move out of Melbourne for health reasons.

I would say most older folk in Australia move to warmer, sunnier climates as they get older, not to Melbourne. Though climate change is making that all very interesting...

I agree with the poster above who suggests an annual three-monthly visit, or similar, instead.

Melbourne is expensive, where is your sil roughly? They will want to be close. Lots of 3 bed houses around not just 5 bed but they probably still cost £400k and much more anywhere inner. Increasingly more townhouses and a fair stock of older villa units and flats too.

I’d suggest they go back for a few weeks in July to make sure it’s the right decision if they like the heat! I’m in melb 😁

Actually there has really been a "thunderstorm asthma" event only once every 5 or so years in Melbourne - and you always get a warning - but of course it is good to list every possible catastrophic thing about Melbourne - dont forget the sharks that live off the bay and snakes and spiders - drop bears are also a thing too!

Yeah, never heard oldies here moving to Melb/Vic for the weather. They migrate north to Brisvegas, Sunshine Coast or similar.

We are in Melbourne currently visiting our son who has citizenship. Been 7 times. We looked at retiring here and it is very doable if you have at least half your children with PR or citizenship and not expensive. If of state retirement age you can apply onshore and get put on a bridging visa which is about 30 years so will see you out. Temperature about 10 degrees warmer than the UK year round, housing expensive. Lots to do and a great lifestyle. We decided on the regular holidays due to knowing we would miss daughter in the UK and friends and dog is too old to go. It is doable though if you want the adventure.

Would you guys consider going with them?

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry to detail the weather which is boring to many. I realise the main concern is missing her PIL; you are right.

Australia is a nice country, but I'm always a bit dubious about people who pack up and move somewhere new in retirement; once the shine has worn off, they often end up homesick and complaining of difficulties making new friends. Old friends who promised faithfully they would come and visit very often don't (and Oz is a LONG way away for those who do not have the lure of grandchildren to visit). They'll probably wind up coming back to the UK a lot to visit old friends there instead, which makes me feel that staying put in the UK and just having longer visits over in Oz would make more sense).

It sounds like it probably is a switch. You and your kids had them for 9 months a year and SUL for 3. Now it's going to be the other way around. That doesn't sound so disastrous. You already have to miss them 3 months a year so your kids are used to not seeing them for a long stretch at a time.

I used to live in the Kent and go to Melbourne often (family), also in winter. Melbourne is much warmer in winter.

Is central heating the norm in this part of Australia? I've heard that Ozzie houses are often not set up well for the cold. If they have only visited over Australian summer, they probably haven't experienced that.

Kokeshi123We have reverse cycle aircon throughout the house and a very good gas ‘living flame’ fire in the sitting room. We’re not using either at the moment

I know you say your SIL is homesick now and that her and MIL are very close, but at some point she and her husband made an active choice to move what she knew at that point was 11,000 miles from her parents. Do people do that if their ideal scenario is actually their parents/in-laws living close by? It sounds like if they moved they would be very focused on SIL’s family. I would want to be really sure that was desirable for everyone before starting to talk about the logistics like money and the weather.

Thunderstorm asthma is yearly at least?! Based on living here.

I have lived here 20 years and only experienced 2 in all that time that seemed to actually impact anyone. Lots of warning but nothing of note. Mum has COPD so I am aware of days where the events are actual events and not just "warnings"

I’m an immigration lawyer here in Australia. How many children do your in laws have and how many live in Australia?

Every Aussie house I've ever been in has been perfectly well set up for cold.

Every Aussie house I've ever been in has been perfectly well set up for cold.

I've been to Australia in winter (more than once). The only house I wasn't cold in was in Darwin 😃

Sydney, Melbourne, Perth all freezing houses/flats.

Melly is a lovely place to live. It depend where they’re choosing to live.

the peninsula is lovely all year round. The wind Will blow you off your feet in the winter but the beach more than makes up for it.
The cbd - leave home at 7am and it’s already 40° at 6pm it’ll be raining so heavy the rains coming in sideways and 18°

our summers will melt the thongs on your feet -
our winters will freeze the tits off a bull

Thats Australia tho. We wouldn’t change anything 👍🏻

I'm in Perth. My first rental was old, cheap, and freezing. But modern houses have adequate heating and cooling. Same as the UK really.

SIL and her DC will always come first. IME.

We are indeed set up for the cold. You install any type of heater you like. I have my gas wall furnace and I have a wood box heater in another living area , but I never use it hardly. We are certainly not Siberia or the North Pole . You can double glaze your windows and have batts in your ceiling and walls . Been here just about forever and Melbourne is certainly not a freezing cold state or freezing cold homes. It’s a temperate climate .

Central heating is standard in Melbourne, and Winter lasts for 2-3 months and is a good 10 degrees Celsius warmer than in London.

I’ve been in lots of freezing houses!! Old homes are mostly uninsulated so if not double brick are pretty cold! A fair amount still dont have central heating - I live in a nice area in an older home and don’t have central heating up along to the bedrooms so I have an oil column heater in the bedroom or I’d freeze all winter long. But to be fair our boys are fine, we might put a second column heater in the babies room now she’s in her own room. Of course you can rule those out of your rental search.