I know for certain that failing PhDs completely doesn't happen unless you submit something extremely shoddy (1000 word thesis for example). I doubt Sunnychicka is in that position. Resubmitting for MPhil is more possible but that's why Sunnychicka you have to use the viva as an opportunity to show that your work (once you address the shortcomings) would be original enough to warrant a PhD. Vivas by and large tend not to be as merciless as ppl may think- the friend I was referring to submitted only 10,000 words, didn't do much work due to personal reasons but submitted anyway. Even after getting grilled for 3 hours by the external examiner he was still given a revise and resubmit. I do think R&R is more likely- it doesn't seem that you lack any knowledge of your topic, didn't do ANY WORK, have no reasons for the shortcomings etc…If you lacked on that front then an Mphil is possible. Fingers crossed.

OK well this again will sound strange but I know a guy who had a similar situation: he knew his PhD wasn't the best, needed to leave the UK, and so he submitted at the end of 3 years. He was told to revise and resubmit and given a year. He stayed over in England to finish it off.
At the end of the day, your supervisor cannot stop you submitting work even if he thinks it's not good enough- what will happen generally is he will stop cooperating but you will get to sit the exam and don't expect to pass. Weird as it may sound this will hit several birds with one stone:
1) You'll get more time to finish
2) You won't have to quit and leave in a month
3) You'll have your second chance to show your effort in the second viva.

So I agree with TreeofLife and I know this works. Of course it's not ideal- be prepared not to get cooperation from your supervisor however. Don't know if you play chess but sometimes you have to sacrifice your pawns and rooks to defend your king. Think about it and I wish you good luck! keep in touch!

Honesty is the best policy!! Seriously- just tell him what happened and he/she will understand supervisors appreciate honesty. It is when you start lying that the problems begin.

After calming down and relaxing I would suggest that you schedule a meeting with your supervisor. I know it may sound counterproductive but trust me- you need to clarify a few matters:
1) Do you have anything you can show (status reports, chapters, etc..) to show that you can finish in 6 months?
2) What proof can you show that staying for 6 months is a better option than what your supervisor is recommending?

At this stage, just telling them you prefer staying won't sway them. Hard proof in the form of completed chapters, publications, lack of access to resources away from home, a structured outline of how you intend to finish in 6 months is what is needed. Even if they say no after that there are options to circumvent their decision and go to the degree committee or whatever committee approves degrees in your uni. As haventgotaclue says: it's not the end of the world and you have options

Relax and be firm! It is your PhD and tell them that going back will affect the quality of your thesis negatively. I'm sure the supervisor will change his mind when he hears that- the last thing a supervisor wants is one of his/her students failing or not getting a PhD under his/her guidance.

Sorry to hear that- I lost my wallet a month ago and it had all my credit cards (UK and here in Canada) as well as all my identity cards. Nothing is worse than that but glad the thief didn't get much. Always be vigilant, NEVER CARRY CASH, and have numbers of banks etc… to cancel cards etc ASAP. Try not to be alone if walking out late at night just because it's Portugal doesn't mean everywhere is safe. Look after yourself and remember: he didn't get much so it could've been worse.

I disagree with TreeofLife on one thing: Unis can force a withdrawal these days under certain circumstances. In your case sunnychicka you have a medical reason for the delay the only thing I'll suggest is to convince your supervisor that staying here would help you finish the PhD sooner than leaving. Medical excuse + supervisor on your side means the uni is very unlikely to force a withdrawal. There have been cases of the uni withdrawing students and asking them to re-register upon submission if the 4-year period has passed. Main thing for you to do now is convince your supervisor that staying where you are is best. Good luck!

LOL wise words :)

Your situation is kind of similar to mine. I first applied for postdocs with no luck but have been hired in a non-academic sector (although the line of work relates to my PhD field).
"does anyone have any experience of juggling post-PhD academic research with full-time work, and if so, how feasible is it?" I would strongly advise you against juggling- I had to stop working on a publication I was planning to submit to a journal because of the workload from my job.Good news is that I design policy and create publications (though non-academic) as part of my job, but post-PhD academic research and full-time work are like oil and water they don't mix IMHO. I also have a friend who's currently working on PhD corrections but had to quit his part-time (part-time mind you) job to complete his corrections. Time is too short and you also have a life.
If I were you do what I'm doing now: I'm hoping to get back into academia but I needed the money and a bit of a change from the academic environment after 3+ years. You can always apply for postdocs next year, and who knows your experience (I'm assuming it's still related to your field even if non-academic) might help.
Finally I agree with Mackem Beefy that " If you are looking at generating journal publications out of your work, to do it sooner rather than later". That's what I did: I got 2 publications out before starting my new job.

TBH most ppl I know who started part-time PhDs didn't finish because they couldn't handle the situation. My advice: full-time or wait till the time is right.

Agreed- if they wanted to fail you they would've done so already: happened to a guy in our cohort. Plus they only spent an hour with him before telling him he failed. They wouldn't have spent over 3 hours with you if they wanted to fail you. Now that you have a better idea of what to expect in the viva, prepare for the 2nd exam. Good luck.

If you're sure you want to do a PhD you must be ready to do it. My advice for you is to figure out if you're ready first and then consider a topic/research proposal

Well I didn't change universities but considered it after 2 months. I did, however, end up changing projects entirely from what I stated in my application proposal.
1) It's normal to have self doubt. The first thing you need to do is be honest with yourself and identify what it is about the PhD that you don't like: the subject, the university setting, the faculty???
2) If it's the project, try to propose elements of the project at the other university to your supervisor (I'm assuming they're in the same field) and see what he/she thinks.
3) I would say it is too early to "pull the plug" on where you are now- as you said you moved your entire family so it wouldn't be very wise to recklessly just quit. In my case, I really hated the topic I thought I liked and so proposed an alternative one to my supervisor and he was open to the possibility and accepted it.
4) No one really knows what being a PhD student is all about before the course- it is just difficult to predict. This shouldn't scare you into quitting- as long as you re-establish a good relationship with your supervisor (impress him by doing research on this topic from the other university that you like and discuss it with him honestly) you should be fine. Most people who don't do well in their PhD have bad relationships with their supervisors cause they are not honest. Based on what you said, I don't think you burnt any bridges yet.
5) Relax!! I actually hated my topic so much I asked my supervisor to give me a reference for another university, which he refused to give me as he only knew me for 2 months!!!! I ended up having an excellent relationship with him, and do to this present day! I just changed the topic, was honest about it, and he loved the passion I showed for the topic. Now I'm a Dr!

I got rejected by 80% of the unis I applied to (10 in total)…only 2 accepted me without any financial aid. That was 4-5 years ago, so I imagine now it's even more difficult to be accepted. Just keep trying and don't give up lude

I don't know why you've lost interest in your field but my advice to you is NEVER feel compelled to do something because of what others may think- don't stay because your family expects you to finish the PhD. This is about you not anyone else so make your own decision and forget about what others think.