Ask HN: Emigrating Down Under
Hi, everyone -

My wife and I have been discussing leaving the U.S. to emigrate for an extended period of time (10+ years). We have a new baby, and while we're not looking to leave immediately, we're hoping to depart sometime in the next two to five years.

Our primary consideration is that we're looking for a place where English is a primary spoken language. My wife and I also speak conversational German, and although we're not averse to learning another language, we'd really prefer to not learn one unnecessarily. Secondly, my wife intends to get her Ph. D (or equivalent) studying religion in early Japan, and as such, relatively easy geographic access to Japan is something we're looking for. Finally, it's got to be somewhere with some form of a software industry so I can actually earn a living and not be a deadbeat immigrant. Of course, all of these considerations hinge on the assumption that a place that meets them will also be safe and able to provide an adequate ("first world") standard of safety and care for the baby. Two countries that are very high on our list are Australia and New Zealand. That's not an exhaustive list, but anywhere else would have to fit the constraints above.

I have three ?'s that come to mind about possible locations. Like I said above, the two primary countries we're investigating are Australia and New Zealand, but I'm open to other suggestions. I was hoping that someone in the HN community might either live in one of those countries or be familiar enough with the immigration process and the culture to shed some light on this and give us some pointers while we're laying the groundwork for eventual emigration. The three ?'s are:

1.) What are our prospects for staying abroad long-term? Assuming my wife gets admitted to something like a Ph. D program, she's probably going to be eligible for some kind of student visa, but I'm not sure what that entails w/r/t me being able to work or for our daughter being able to enroll in school. I'm not completely averse to switching citizenships if necessary, but that's a last resort. There's very little tying us to the U.S. except the accident of our births here, so we're hoping that this move will be nearly permanent. What are our chances for that?

2.) What's the equivalent to the American Ph. D in said country? In Australia, it looks like you don't earn a Ph. D per se. Rather, you seem to earn some sort of post-grad diploma by independent research or coursework. My wife's ultimate goal is to teach at the collegiate level, and the traditional approach for this in the U.S. is to earn a Ph. D (which entails a sizeable research component under an advisor). Other countries have colleges with highly educated faculties, but the bit of research I've done on her behalf suggests that they come from different processes than we're familiar with in the U.S. What is the equivalent to a Ph. D, and the academic career prospects it provides?

3.) What's the best way for me to scout jobs overseas? This relocation is a long-term project, so I'd have plenty of time to spend. I wouldn't even mind making a career move here in the U.S. to facilitate the jump. However, I'm curious what the best ways to approach the problem are. Working remotely for a company in, e.g., the U.S. is an option I'd happily consider, but I'd want exceptional stability before I staked my emigration on that. Again, I have a family and I'm not particularly interested in interrupting their lives and dragging them around the world without something fairly stable on the other side.

tl; dr - has anyone here emigrated from the U.S. for an extended period of time? What did you do that made the process easier or harder? What would you recommend for someone looking to do the same?