Happily, my SO is not an academic (at least, not anymore) and his career is such that he could move if we needed to. He'd prefer to stay here, but he supports me and knows how important this is. As a bit of a compromise, I've applied to schools that are relatively close to where we currently live, including a school in my city (U of T). If I get accepted at an American school, well then we'll have to figure out how to get him there on my student visa. He's likely going to stay here for the first year of my program while we both save up money, and then haul our two cats and furniture to wherever it is that I am. I'm lucky to have such a supportive partner, but it's taken a long while of discussion on both our ends -- he's known since day one of our relationship that a PhD was in my future, and we've discussed it at every stage of our relationship.