Sri Lankan woman remains stranded in Cook Islands after visa refusals
Ruchira Ranasingha, a Sri Lankan woman, has been unable to leave the Cook Islands for three years after visa applications left her without a feasible route home. The case highlights how immigration decisions and transit requirements can combine to leave someone stranded far from family.
Ranasingha left Sri Lanka in 2018 and later sought asylum in New Zealand, where she received a one-year open work visa. She says an immigration adviser recommended travelling to the Cook Islands to apply for an employment visa from overseas; after it was refused, her departure breached her existing visa conditions. New Zealand rejected three transit visa applications and Australia rejected four, while other routes require biometric checks in New Zealand. She hopes to attend her son’s wedding in November and return to her mother.
In short
- Ruchira Ranasingha has been stranded in the Cook Islands for three years.
- New Zealand and Australia have rejected her transit visa applications.
- She wants to return to Sri Lanka for her son’s wedding.
Explained simply
The Cook Islands is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand, and travel between countries can involve separate visa and transit rules. A transit visa allows someone to pass through a country on the way to another destination.
Ruchira Ranasingha left Sri Lanka in 2018 and later sought asylum in New Zealand, where she held a one-year open work visa. She says she travelled to the Cook Islands on an adviser’s recommendation to apply for an employment visa, but the application was refused and her departure breached her New Zealand visa conditions.
Her case involves decisions by several countries: New Zealand and Australia have refused her transit visa applications, while some other routes require biometric checks in New Zealand. It shows how immigration and transit requirements can interact and affect a person’s ability to travel home or reach family.
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Originally published by BBC World as “I’ve been stuck on a tiny Pacific island for years and can’t get a transit visa to fly home”.