Complete the sentence: Yes, my wife _____ to move there for years, then finally a job came up.

The correct completion of the sentence is "Yes, my wife has been wanting to move there for years, then finally a job came up."

This choice effectively uses the present perfect continuous tense ("has been wanting"), which is ideal for describing an action that started in the past and has continued up to the present. In this context, it indicates that the wife's desire to move has been ongoing over the years and is still relevant at the time of speaking. This tense communicates not just the desire but also emphasizes the duration and continuity of that feeling.

This grammatical structure captures the sense of persistence and time effectively, which aligns well with the context of the sentence, where an opportunity has finally arisen after a long-standing wish.