Moving to Australia gets easier for millions of Brits after visa change

It's fair to say that things aren't exactly hunky dory in the UK right now. With wages low, the cost of living rising, sewage in the ocean, and the NHS on its knees, the prospect of emigration from the UK is becoming increasingly appealing.

Australia and New Zealand are both choices which make sense for British nationals looking to move abroad permanently. They have higher wages - even relative to the cost of living - and there's no language barrier for Brits who don't have a second language.

And now, there's even more incentive to would-be British immigrants to up sticks and move, as Australia has relaxed rules around visas and working.

Whether moving temporarily or planning on staying for the long term, there are now more options.

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Now, the age limit for British nationals looking for a 'working holiday' visa has been raised up to 35, meaning that millions more people are now eligible.

This means that British nationals will be able to live and work in Australia for up to three years. Previous restrictions around the type of work that can be done have also been lifted, meaning that more industries are now available.

Before this, anyone looking to come into the country on this visa had to commit to 88 days of agriculture work a year. This was also done for every additional year that someone wanted to stay in Australia.

Sally Cope, UK regional general manager for Tourism Australia, told the BBC: "It's an exciting time and these big sporting events, like the FIFA women's football world cup and Olympics in Brisbane in 2032, offer the temporary contract type work that young visitors want."

Data from Tourism Australia suggests that as many as 35,000 British people arrive in Australia each year on the working holiday visa. Many of these people do choose to stay on.

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The number of British people emigrating has increased since 2016. According to the Office of National Statistics, 557,000 people emigrated from the UK in 2022, with 92,000 of them being British nationals leaving the UK.

With higher wages and a higher standard of living than the UK, it's not surprising that the country is a popular choice for UK nationals. There's also the absence of a language barrier which is handy for the UK, in which only around one in three people claim to speak a second language according to data from the European Commission.

With the new visa rules Down Under and things not looking rosy in the fittingly-nicknamed Blighty, maybe now is a good time to think about moving.