Working in UK 'not worth heartache'

New Zealanders doing their OE in the United Kingdom have a message for friends and family intending to join them: don't bother.

A shorter work visa would just add hurdles to the OE experience, they warn.

"Spend a year at home without a car, sharing a flat and watching the pennies. Enjoy four months in Europe over summer, but forget about working in the UK - it's more heartache than it's worth," says accountant Tony Armstrong.

The 30-year-old from Kerikeri, who has been working in the National Health Service, is himself giving up and coming home at the end of the month.

He says many New Zealanders found that the first year in the UK was a struggle "to get bonds for flats, find employment of any sort and establish a standard of living which is survivable - let alone enjoyable".

"With a one-year visa, learning about our heritage and the origin of our cultures will be reduced to a six-week Contiki tour."

Other New Zealanders echo his views on the expat bulletin boards where the visa change has become a hot topic.

As fewer qualify for the longer-term ancestral visa, the two-year working holiday is increasingly the only chance for meaningful OE for many young New Zealanders.

They fear an even shorter visa would make it harder to get established and woo employers.

Mr Armstrong cautions that cost can be a deterrent to shorter stays. "Once you get here, assuming you find work within the first two to three weeks, you probably spend £1400 ($4750) on finding and setting up a flat, travel and living expenses for your first month.

"The typical wage for office work - which is what most New Zealanders not in those jobs likely to be targeted for visa relaxations do - is £10 [an hour], from which National Insurance and taxes are taken, so that outlay takes a long time to recoup."

Even without the change to a one-year visa, says Mr Armstrong, "a working holiday is increasingly an option only for those financed by their parents, or with savings at home".