NZ is indeed a beautiful country and a top notch place to train.
However the commercial aviation industry back there is completely screwed up. The UK is an aviation employment paradise by comparison.
You won't get into even the most lowly of 19-seat commuter turboprop RHS jobs, without something like 1500 TT and several hundred multi engine. Even then, you'll be lucky to be earning NZ$30,000 for your efforts. It can take several years and several more thousand hours to get into the left seat of that same poxy 19-seater and maybe earning $50 or $60K. Here in the UK you'd be expecting a Boeing or Airbus command in the same kind of time frame (and obviously earning in the £70-90K range for doing so).
The problem is a simple one - the flying schools pump out between 400 and 600 CPL's a year and Air NZ (the only big-jet airline, the job everyone's waiting for) hires maybe 20 or 30 people a year. In some years it hires none at all. Then there's little or no movement in the turboprop regionals either, and basically no jobs for anyone looking for their first start. Despite the best intentions and best abilities of so many recently trained pilots, the flying career is just not forthcoming in NZ due to simple supply and demand.
That's why me and so many of my countrymen (& women) are to be found filling up flightdecks in other parts of the world, Europe and Asia and the Middle East are all riddled with expat kiwis and aussie pilots.
A lot of us would love to go home to live for all the reasons you've stated but not many of us ever will, except to retire.
The long term immigration issue is an entirely separate one, it's not my area of expertise but I would guess that there is absolutely zero chance that a local airline would be able to - or indeed be interested in - sponsoring a foreign national for a work visa. You might qualify under the points-based immigration lottery system, especially if you've got family already there. Or else you could just take the easy option, find yourself some kiwi girl and bust out that diamond ring
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news mate, feel free to PM me for any specific info you may desire
cheers
- Luke ST