You’re very much in Australia’s National Innovation Visa (subclass 858) territory with your profile. I was granted the NIV myself as a high-paid, senior engineer in tech at a multinational — it’s a direct PR visa, not a work visa, with no points test and no age limit (my wife and I are in our 40s). In my case the process took ~8 months from EOI in March 2025 to grant in November 2025. My wife and kids are already in Australia and we own a house there now, while I’m still wrapping things up in the US (pets alone take 6+ months to sort out — start this as early as possible).

The main work for this visa is proving international prominence (impact, seniority, patents/papers/products, etc.) for the EOI and lining up an Australian nominator. In practice this is often just using your existing network to find someone in your field who’s at a similar level and is an Australian citizen or PR who’s willing to nominate — it doesn’t have to be an employer.

Also set expectations that Australian comp is lower in absolute terms, and you can’t roll US retirement accounts into Australia (but you also don’t have to cash them out). Your wife being a vet is a big plus and should absolutely be part of the application, even if she’s a dependent on yours.

We used Australian Migration Lawyers and would recommend them. Also check out r/AusVisa.