So i’m not sure how long this is going to be, but i’ll set the scene first.

I am (21M), from the UK, and am Agnostic Christian (i think?). I moved to Australia to live here for a bit and only really planned on staying for 3 years, the longest amount of time i am allowed to on my visa. I met a girl (21F) here within the first 6 months of being here and we really hit it off. We laugh together, cry together and both share a lot of the same views of life as each other which i love.

At the beginning we spoke about what the plan would be in terms of me having to go home or staying in Australia and starting my life with her here, but at first it wasn’t really a big issue as we were very fresh into the relationship. But now we’ve been together 7 months, we have to start thinking about myself getting PR (permanent residency) here. I don’t mind living my life here as Australia is a beautiful country especially in comparison to the UK.

So the PR thing is the first issue, which isn’t too bad. We can move in, live together for a year and have a shared bank account and then apply. But i have another thing weighing on my shoulders and it’s the fact that she was raised muslim which creates a bunch of other problems.

She was raised muslim, but isn’t a strict muslim herself, we drink, have sex and everything else like that but she still expects me to convert to islam when we consider getting married because her mum is very strict muslim. She also holds other muslim values, naturally, such as me paying for a lot of things day to day. She doesn’t force me to, but she lets it be known that she sort of expects it. Her mum doesn’t know about me and neither do her sisters, only a few of her friends.

I’m torn because I really do love her but i feel like the converting is a lot for me knowing i wouldn’t be a devoted muslim myself, and the pressure to get married just so that i can meet her mum is also a lot.

And another thing is that i still want to travel and do all these sorts of things which i don’t think she would be willing to do for the length of time that i want to, because of the pressure from her family to be married etc.

So i guess what im asking is, how would i talk to her about this? I could still move in with her to get the PR issue rolling, and then if it all goes to shit it doesn’t really matter and i can travel, but if it continues to go well and i apply for PR i know that i have a bumpy road ahead with her family and being a white man marrying a muslim?

I think it’s important to mention I have very strong feelings for this girl, but she says some things that make me raise an eyebrow. Other than that, she’s in uni, has a decent paying job and has plans for her future and overall i think would be a great wife.

TLDR; Moved from the UK to Aus, in love with a muslim girl, not sure if i should stay here or move back due to a bunch of potential problems.

Thanks in advance for any advice 😃