Registration No. 333-36865

Registration No. 811-03989

Approximate Date of Proposed Public Offering                                  Continuous                                    

It is proposed that this filing will become effective immediately upon filing pursuant to Rule 462(d).

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Post-Effective Amendment No. 31 to the Registration Statement on Form N-6 (File No. 333-36865) is being filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), solely for the purpose of filing Exhibit (q) to such Registration Statement, which was inadvertently omitted in Post-Effective Amendment No. 30 to the Registration Statement filed on April 28, 2017. Accordingly, this Post-Effective Amendment No. 31 consists only of a facing page, this explanatory note, Part C of the Registration Statement on Form N-6, and Exhibit (q) to Item 26 of Part C. This Post-Effective Amendment No. 31 does not change the form of the Prospectuses and Statement of Additional Information relating to Post-Effective Amendment No. 30 filed electronically on April 28, 2017 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

PART C

OTHER INFORMATION

Item 26.  Exhibits

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Item  27. Directors and Officers of the Depositor

The following lists include all of the Trustees, executive officers and other officers of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company without regard to their activities relating to variable life insurance policies or their authority to act or their status as “officers” as that term is used for certain purposes of the federal securities laws and rules thereunder.

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TRUSTEES  –  As of February 1, 2017

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EXECUTIVE OFFICERS   –  As of February 1, 2017

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OTHER OFFICERS – As of December 1, 2016

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The business addresses for all of the executive officers and other officers is 720 East Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202.

Item 28. Persons Controlled By or Under Common Control with the Depositor or Registrant

The subsidiaries of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company (“Northwestern Mutual”), as of February 1, 2017 are shown below. In addition to the subsidiaries shown below, the following separate investment accounts (which include the Registrant) may be deemed to be either controlled by, or under common control with, Northwestern Mutual:

Northwestern Mutual Series Fund, Inc. (the “Funds”), shown below as a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual, is an investment company, registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, offering shares to the separate accounts identified above; and the shares of the Funds held in connection with certain of the accounts are voted by Northwestern Mutual in accordance with voting instructions obtained from the persons who own, or are receiving payments under, variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies issued in connection with the separate accounts, or in the same proportions as the shares which are so voted.

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Item 29.   Indemnification

(a) That portion of the By-laws of the Depositor, Northwestern Mutual, relating to indemnification of Trustees and officers is set forth in full in Article VII of the By-laws of Northwestern Mutual, amended by resolution and previously filed as Exhibit A(6)(b) to the registration statement of Northwestern Mutual Variable Life Account (File No. 333-59103) on July 15, 1998.

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(b) Section 10 of the Distribution Agreement dated May 1, 2006 between Northwestern Mutual and Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (“NMIS”) provides substantially as follows:

B. Indemnification by Company. The Company agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless NMIS, its successors and assigns, and their respective officers, directors, and employees (together referred to as “NMIS Related Persons”), from any and all joint or several losses, claims, damages or liabilities (including any reasonable investigative, legal and other expenses incurred in connection with, and any amounts paid in settlement of, any action, suit or proceeding or any claim asserted), to which NMIS and/or any NMIS Related Persons may become subject, under any law, regulation or NASD rule, at common law or otherwise, that arises out of or are based upon (i) any breach of this Agreement by the Company and (ii) any untrue statement of or omission to state a material fact (except for information supplied by or on behalf of NMIS or for which NMIS is responsible) contained in any Registration Statement, Contract prospectus, SAI or supplement thereto or in any Marketing Material.

This indemnification shall be in addition to any liability that the Company may otherwise have; provided, however, that no person shall be entitled to indemnification pursuant to this provision for any loss, claim, damage or liability due to the willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence or reckless disregard of duty by the person seeking indemnification.

C. Indemnification by NMIS. NMIS agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Company, its successors and assigns, and their respective officers, trustees or directors, and employees (together referred to as “Company Related Persons”), from any and all joint or several losses, claims, damages or liabilities (including any reasonable investigative, legal and other expenses incurred in connection with, and any amounts paid in settlement of, any action, suit or proceeding or any claim asserted), to which the Company and/or any Company Related Persons may become subject, under any law, regulation or NASD rule, at common law or otherwise, that arises out of or are based upon (i) any breach of this Agreement by NMIS and (ii) any untrue statement of or omission to state a material fact (except for information supplied by or on behalf of the Company or for which the Company is responsible) contained in any Registration Statement, Contract prospectus, SAI or supplement thereto or in any Marketing Material, in each case to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in reliance upon information furnished in writing by NMIS to the Company specifically for use in the preparation of the aforesaid material.

This indemnification shall be in addition to any liability that NMIS may otherwise have; provided however, that no person shall be entitled to indemnification pursuant to this provision for any loss, claim, damage or liability due to the willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence or reckless disregard of duty by the person seeking indemnification.

D. Indemnification Generally. Any person seeking indemnification under this section shall promptly notify the indemnifying party in writing after receiving notice of the commencement of any action as to which a claim for indemnification will be made; provided, however, that failure to so notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve such party from any liability which it may have to such person otherwise than on account of this section.

The indemnifying party shall be entitled to participate in the defense of the indemnified person but such participation will not relieve such indemnifying party of the obligation to reimburse the indemnified party for reasonable legal and other expenses incurred by such party in defending himself, herself or itself.

Item 30.  Principal Underwriters

(a) NMIS is the principal underwriter of the securities of the Registrant. NMIS is also the principal underwriter for the NML Variable Annuity Account A (811-21887), the NML Variable Annuity Account B (811-1668), the NML Variable Annuity Account C (811-21886), and the Northwestern Mutual Variable Life Account II (811-21933).

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(b) As of February 1, 2017, the directors and officers of NMIS are as follows:

The address for each director and officer of NMIS is 611 East Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202.

(c) NMIS, the principal underwriter, received $3,053,234 of commissions and other compensation, directly or indirectly, from Registrant during the last fiscal year.

Item  31.  Location of Accounts and Records

All accounts, books or other documents required to be maintained in connection with the Registrant’s operations are maintained in the physical possession of Northwestern Mutual at 720 East Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202.

Item  32.  Management Services

There are no management-related service contracts, other than those referred to in Part A or Part B of this Registration Statement, under which management-related services are provided to the Registrant and pursuant to which total payments of $5,000 or more were made during any of the last three fiscal years.

Item  33.  Fee Representation

The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company hereby represents that the fees and charges deducted under the variable life insurance policies which are the subject of this registration statement, in the aggregate, are reasonable in relation to the services rendered, the expenses expected to be incurred, and the risks assumed by the insurance company under the policies.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Registrant, Northwestern Mutual Variable Life Account, has duly caused this Amended Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf, in the City of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin, on the 25th day of July, 2017.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Amendment to the Registration Statement has been signed by the Depositor on the 25th day of July, 2017.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Amended Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities with the Depositor and on the dates indicated:

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Each of the signatures is affixed as of July 25, 2017.

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EXHIBIT INDEX

EXHIBITS FILED WITH FORM N-6

POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 31 TO

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

FOR

NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL VARIABLE LIFE ACCOUNT

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