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Same here in Au

So many Canadians in the same situation — perhaps use your Canadian passport ? so many better places for you to be… find a nice job across the border in the US — it’s so easy to get a TN work Visa, or work tax free in the UAE, or build a nice career in Singapore. I had the same problem with Australia — it’s my home, and my heart will always fondly call it home forever. Australia is a big country with small job market, generally ignorant (but nice) people and limited economic diversity. One gets proper civic amenities only in either Melbourne or Sydney e.g., top notch medical care, a wide variety of groceries etc. Taxation is very high and although some people will tell you “we are well taken care of…” that is not true nowadays. The Australian Government’s policies over the last 40 years destroyed manufacturing, the economy, working conditions and inflated the property market. A reasonable 2-bedroom apartment in a Sydney suburb could cost you Au$2000-3000 in rent or Au$500,000+ to buy — and that goes higher as you get closer to downtown Sydney. The problem is that incomes are not high enough in Australia and housing quality is less than average overall for these ridiculous prices. Food, tolls and petrol cost a lot, although Sydney and Melbourne’s fresh food markets give you better prices than you’ll find in most other cities. My wife and I had a combined income of over Au$300,000/year while we lived there. We finally left Australia and moved to the US because even with our relatively high income we could only have an average house for around Au$1.8 million, we couldn’t fill up the tub and have a proper bath because of water restrictions, our kids would get an average schooling and their only dream in life would be to one day own a house. We didn’t want to live like that, so we wrapped up and left for good. The US is much better for skilled people — I don’t mean plumbers, tilers, roofers or landscapers, although life is good for them too. I’m sure someone will reply to this comment about the gun violence in the US. All I can say is that in the US we have the option to defend ourselves whereas in Australia we are expected to quietly die if someone kicks us in the head, stabs us or shoots us. Quality of life is good here in the US for me and my family. Fly free, mate!

and people back home in our countries of origin (us immigrants) they think once they land in a western country they'll be employed right there and then ??\n\nEdit: I'm originally from your neighbouring Zambia and flying from Lusaka to Sydney drained my soul this country is very far and the air tickets are high AF ??? another thing that shook me when I moved here is how expensive it is to fly within Australia I mean a flight from Sydney to perth can be up to AU$750 whereas in the US flying the same distance costs like AU$350