[rdhn]

Relevance: I emigrated to New Zealand in 1999 then Australia a few years later. I'm back in the UK now so have no local knowledge, but here's what I know from going through the process for both countries.

Australia and New Zealand operate a points system for immigration and regularly publish lists of desired occupations. You get points for years of work experience, educational level, field of expertise. If you can prove you match a desired occupation then the requirements drop.

It may be simpler for you to get a visa, rather than your wife. If you get accepted for residency (no need to give up citizenship) you are entitled to work and bring in dependents. From what I remember student visas tend to have restrictions about who else can be admitted on them.

Residency = five years before you have to renew (when I had it, may have changed now). In both countries, if you were still in the country at the end of your residency you qualified for citizenship. So to answer your question, if you get in, chances of staying long-term are good. Australia and New Zealand are actively growing their populations and keen to add the right skills.

No other suggestions for you. I can recommend Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne as awesome places.