Can I let my spouse live permanently when I immigrate to New Zealand?

Q: I want to ask a question about New Zealand immigrants. I wonder if New Zealand is like Australia, where the principal applicant can't go and the spouse can be the principal applicant for permanent residence?

A: Hello. Under normal circumstances, the main applicant of New Zealand entrepreneurial immigrants cannot be changed to permanent residence, which means that Mr. Wang is the main applicant of entrepreneurial immigrants, and Mr. Wang will definitely be the main applicant when he changes to permanent residence. However, there is one exception. If the spouse can get IELTS 4 when submitting the application for permanent residence after two years of business, and can participate in business management in New Zealand for two years, the spouse can apply for permanent residence independently. There is a premise in this situation, that is, the original entrepreneurial immigrant applicant must extend the visa to three years, so that the spouse can legally open the work visa for three years.

According to the provisions of the immigration law, anyone who holds a legal open work visa can apply for permanent residence as long as he has lived in New Zealand for two years, owns more than 25% of the shares of the enterprise, employs at least 1 employees and can get IELTS 4. In this case, the applicant does not have the problem of investment plan, nor does it require the business to be consistent with the background, because you applied two years after the business was successful. So it is not impossible to change the principal applicant, but there are conditions.

Finally, it should be emphasized that if the spouse can't get the IELTS test within two years, then he can't change the main applicant.