Entrepreneur Category – What if my business is different from that on which my long term business visa was approved?

If the label in your passport for your long term business visa or permit states a specific business, that is the only type of business which you have been permitted to establish in New Zealand.  If you had wished to establish a different business you should have applied to the Business Migration Branch to change your business, before you made the change.

An application under the Entrepreneur category will be declined if

• the business that you have operated was established while you were holding a Long Term Business Visa/Permit, and
• your business is different from the one included in your Long Term Business Visa or Permit application (or one modified with the written consent of the Business Migration Branch), UNLESS
• the business that you have established would have met the requirements for a business plan under the Long Term Business Visa/Permit category policy, and
• the business that you have established required at least the same level of capital investment as your original proposal, and
• you have relevant experience for the new business.

 

If the label in your passport for your long term business visa or permit does not state a specific business, you are permitted to be self-employed in any business in New Zealand.