The OE, or Overseas Experience, as much a kiwi tradition and birthright as the quarter acre pavlova paradise. Generations of young Kiwis have left these shores, usually to London but in more recent years to other places, to experience working and living somewhere else.
An opportunity for New Zealanders, so far from the rest of the world, to travel around Europe perhaps with a Eurail pass or in the back of a VW kombi. Drinking and shagging their way around the great cities of the continent. Or maybe to fund more exotic trips to other continents, a lot harder to see having a permanent job here in NZ.
In my parents’ day it was by ship. Many weeks with little to do, lifelong friendships were made. My generation went by plane but it was still a big deal necessitating tearful family gatherings at the airport to see you off, knowing it might be years before you saw each other again.
Today the Government announced that the Working Holiday arrangements between New Zealand and the UK, which enables the OE for many, were being extended early.
That headlined jumped out at me. You don’t often see positive news associated with immigration or visas. Usually there is negativity, either from people who’ve had a bad experience, often goaded on by an opposition MP, or from frustrated businesses crying out for cheap labour.
The new three year NZ UK Working Holiday Visas (WHV) will now be delivered earlier than expected, coming into force by July this year in time to support businesses through the global labour shortages Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says.
The improved WHV, successfully negotiated alongside the NZ UK Free trade Agreement last year, will give more UK travellers open work rights in New Zealand for longer…
The new conditions of the scheme are reciprocal, meaning New Zealanders will have the same rights within the UK.
So that seems like good news. Certainly the old Working Holiday Visa (WHV) regulations for New Zealanders in the UK were a right pain.
Fi and I arrived in London in late 1997. I remember when you arrived on a WHV you had to show proof of funds on arrival. £2,000 sitting in an account. Which was hard going for many Kiwis like us who had travelled on the way over, spending much of the saved funds having an Overseas Experience.
I’d never set foot in the UK and didn’t know the names of things like the Banks yet. As many Kiwis did I’d organised a UK bank account through Thomas Cook in Auckland. Tales of the difficulty of dealing with the British banking system were legend. You couldn’t get a bank account without proof of residence, of course you couldn’t rent accommodation without a job, and you couldn’t get paid without a bank account.
My bank account was with the, now defunct, Midland Bank. I was also aware there was a bank called Natwest. When the immigration person asked which bank I was with I panicked and said Midwest, combining the two names. They were pleasant enough, joking that they’d never heard of that one, but they weren’t going to let me in.
Fi had gone through already, she was on an Ancestry visa due to a British Grandparent. This was the first of many times entering the country I’d be aware of the lowly status of my visa. I called her over from where she was putting her documents back in her pack and fortunately she had the document showing my funds. So I was allowed into the country after all - whew.
While the ancestry visa allowed the holder to work in any field for four years the WHV was very restrictive. You could stay for two years but you could only work for a maximum of 12 months, and not in your chosen profession. Goodness knows how Kiwis were supposed to afford to live without an income for a year.
As for not working in your chosen profession that was a bit of a problem. I was a computer programmer and the amount I could earn from that was many times what I could get working unskilled, low-paying jobs. The latter being what the UK government wanted young Kiwis doing, not competing for higher paying, skilled jobs.
It was one of those rules that everyone agreed was a bit ludicrous but which you had to be seen to be following. My first job in Britain was as an Analyst/Programmer for Epson, the printer people. Each week the agency who contracted me out sent an invoice to Epson for “Admin Services”, whatever the heck those are.
By the time we went back for a second go at London in 2001 we were married and both on the same visa thanks to Fi’s Grandad. What a difference. Where towards the end of the first OE immigration people were less than pleasant when I entered the country they were now as friendly as they could be. Which isn’t very friendly, but it was at least better that being greeted with “so when are you leaving?”
The new arrangements, the same in both countries, sort these issues out. Visa holders will from July have the following changes which were agreed between the two countries last year:
An extension of five years to the age of eligibility for both schemes from 30 to 35 years.
An extension of the maximum period of time individuals can stay in New Zealand and the UK respectively, from 2 years (or 23 months in the case of New Zealand) to three years.
An extension to the length of time individuals can work, allowing those in the UK and New Zealand respectively to work for the full duration of their three-year stay.
New Zealand will re-establish an annual cap for the UK WHS to be set at 15,000 visas per year – this is higher than the volume of UK WHS visas we normally grant, allowing for interest and growth in the scheme.
This is a pretty big change. It would have made an enormous difference to me arriving in the UK knowing I could stay for three years, and work as long as I wanted during that period, in any field.
It will also make a big difference to Kiwis, and British folks, already on a WHV.
“Securing an implementation date for this new scheme sooner than expected means those who are already in country will now be eligible to remain here longer, adding to the pool of labour available to businesses,” Chris Hipkins said.
“The 4,200 visa holders from the UK currently in New Zealand will now be able to extend their right to remain and work here for at least a year longer…
To help ease the transition to the new enhanced scheme, current eligible Youth Mobility and Working Holiday visa holders will be able to apply for an extension from 29 June in the UK and 1 July in NZ, enabling them to stay in either the UK or New Zealand for 3 years and work for the remainder of their stay.
Governments don’t often achieve things ahead of schedule. You won’t see many headlines trumpeting over delivery. When these changes were agreed between the two governments last year there was a commitment to have them implemented by the end of 2024. That they are going to be in force by mid 2023, 18 months ahead of that, is an achievement that will positively impact many lives.
This seems like a win on many levels. Obviously for British or Kiwi young people planning, or already on, a WHV they can stay and work longer. Employers will have more certainty with existing employees on this visa and no doubt an increase in available labour over time.
The only downside I can think of is that those tearful airport farewells might become that much sadder.
Now you just have to worry about who you’ll be travelling with, like this clip from a classic Kiwi movie:
The Great Kiwi OE - Upgrade.
I loved reading this column - it's a fabulous summary of the impact of the new agreement, and a delightful reminder of past travels. The OE is an iconic and important part of growing up in New Zealand, an opportunity to broaden our understanding of other countries and cultures, reduce our sense of isolation from the world, and prick the bubble of "specialness" as we see so many other wonderful and special places in the world. I am thrilled that it will become more accessible for more young people. It's excellent that they've extended the age range to take into account the impact of Covid on academic completion and the ability to accumulate sufficient funds. Kapai!
I did my OE at the age of 47, intending to go for 2 years ( I had Right of Abode - my mum was a "war bride") Ended up staying for 9 and got Residence and a UK passport. Would thoroughly recommend it, but "if I knew then what I know now" would have prepared more carefully with funds to tide me over the first few months of job hunting.