Australia

Retirement visas closed to new applicants; parent visas cost six figures and take years; points systems age you out at 45. Visitors get up to 12 months.

Foreign non-residents largely restricted to new builds with FIRB approval + fees — and the market is brutally expensive anyway.

Medicare is excellent — for residents. Visitors need insurance (US has no reciprocal deal).

The NBN is... fine. Australians will tell you all about it.

With better slang.

Sydney rivals US coastal metros; regional towns are more humane.

Very safe (the wildlife memes are for tourists).

First-world everything; distances are the infrastructure challenge.

Sydney/Melbourne transit is decent; the country as a whole drives.

Great roads, left-side; distances are continental — plan fuel.

UTC+10: ~3h of a 9–5 Pacific workday falls in local waking hours.

The hardest on this list: months of prep + mandatory ~10-day quarantine + thousands in fees.

Stable, compulsory-voting democracy.

Deep outdoor identity vs coal-export economy tension.

Melbourne's scene is world-grade; strong festival culture.

Melbourne/Sydney eat as globally as anywhere — Asian-fusion ground zero.

Among the world's least affordable housing — and foreigners face restrictions on top.

Nonstops from the West Coast; still a calendar-flipping haul.

4 years as a resident — but PR at retirement age is the near-impossible part.

Huge international population; Americans assimilate instantly.

Marriage equality (2017), robustly progressive society.

Bushfires, floods, northern cyclones — climate volatility is real.

Medical legal nationally; ACT (Canberra) allows personal possession/grow; recreationally illegal elsewhere.

High-ish progressive rates for residents; not a factor for most since residency itself is the blocker.