American Ex-Pat in Sydney, Australia

I met my partner in New York when he was on vacation and we hit it off quite well. I moved to Sydney to see if it could work, and three years later we are still madly in love. When it comes to choosing between the love of your life and your country, there really is no competition. We would love to live in the US, but Australia has made life here for us so easy and accessible, every year that goes by we struggle to find any reason to ever go back.

I miss my mom and dad and I wish they could be here when we start to have children, but in the end, they understand why we cannot live in the US. It’s a real shame, and it’s a heart-breaking story that you hear all the time with ex-pats from the US, but it can and will (hopefully) change one day. Until then, I’m eternally grateful that in Australia we count as human beings whose love is worth recognising for immigration purposes.