Can spouse enter on permanent residence vs. Main applicant?

[bkbk8]

Hi all,

My wife and I received our Permanent Residence stickers and they expire in aug 2017. I, being the main applicant, reside in the USA now and am unable to leave my job until my project is complete in November.

The question is, can my wife enter the country (being a dependent) alone to get her Visa "activated" before the expiry date ? Will they automatically activate mine as well? Or does the main applicant have to enter first?

[JandM]

I presume you have Residence, after applying under SMC. (PR is a different visa which you can qualify for only after a minimum of two years as a resident.)

Your wife, being the secondary applicant, can enter first, but that does NOT activate your visa. You need to enter NZ and present your passport at Immigration at the airport to activate your own visa before the deadline, even if you then immediately get on the next plane out again.

[bkbk8]

@JandM, sorry I should've be more clear, yes, I was referring to our Resident Visa that we got through our Skilled Immigrant application.

If for whatever reason I am unable, as the main applicant, to get to NZ before/on the expiration date, would my wife's visa be impacted? If no, is there a way I can apply for a Spouse visa through her in the future to come to NZ?

[JandM]

If for whatever reason I am unable, as the main applicant, to get to NZ before/on the expiration date, would my wife's visa be impacted?

Yes, her visa would cease to be valid. A secondary applicant is given Residence ONLY as a courtesy to the main applicant, who has proved themself to have a skill useful to the NZ employment market, which s/he is presumed to be going to use for the benefit of NZ. Take the main applicant out of the equation, and there is no reason for the secondary applicant to be there.

To be in NZ if you did not activate your visa, your wife would need previously (because nobody can apply for a visa from within NZ if they are not on a valid visa) to have applied for some kind of visa in her own right (https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...residence-visa or https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...ills-work-visa), having the offer of a skilled job for which she could show the qualifications.

[bkbk8]

@JandM

If I enter to NZ as main applicant and activate my visa, while my wife's visa expirea, will she be able to reapply again? What's the process once her visa expires? She may need to stay behind because of a project she's committed to beyond the expiration date of the visa.

[JandM]

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...-resident-visa A partner-sponsored residence application would be a possibility.

But even if your wife is not able to leave your home country permanently till after the project is done, could she not take a short break to travel and activate her visa? Once that is done, she could leave again as soon as she liked. The advantage would be to avoid an extra application, fresh proof of relationship, etc..

[ChrisMwn]

Hi all,

My wife and I received our Permanent Residence stickers and they expire in aug 2017. I, being the main applicant, reside in the USA now and am unable to leave my job until my project is complete in November.

The question is, can my wife enter the country (being a dependent) alone to get her Visa "activated" before the expiry date ? Will they automatically activate mine as well? Or does the main applicant have to enter first?

it seems to me that you are making a whole lot of difficulty and uncertainty for yourselves.

For the sake of what only needs to be a one day visit, your will secure further 2 year RRV's for yourselves.
"Short term pain-long term gain"