COOK ISLANDS: A 50-year-old Sri Lankan woman has been stranded in the Cook Islands for nearly three years after an immigration decision left her unable to return home or secure transit permission through New Zealand and Australia.
Ruchira Ranasingha told the BBC that she desperately wants to return to Sri Lanka and has even offered to travel “handcuffed, tied up and gagged” if that is what it takes to get her home.
Ranasingha said she initially applied for asylum in New Zealand but later sought a work visa on the advice of an immigration consultant. She temporarily left New Zealand while the application process was underway, travelling to the Cook Islands for a short stay.
However, her work visa application was rejected after she arrived in the islands. By leaving New Zealand, she also breached the conditions attached to her asylum-related visa.
New Zealand has since refused to issue her a transit visa that would allow her to fly back to Sri Lanka. Australia has also declined to provide the necessary transit permission.
Why Did She Leave Sri Lanka?
Ranasingha left Sri Lanka in 2018 after financial difficulties forced her to shut down her small T-shirt manufacturing business.
Struggling to repay her debts, she moved to Hong Kong, where she worked as a domestic helper caring for elderly people and children.
Her brother told BBC Sinhala that she was under severe financial pressure. He also said her husband had struggled with drug addiction and died around seven years ago.
In December 2022, Ranasingha travelled to New Zealand on a two-month visitor visa and stayed with a cousin.
As her visa was approaching its expiry, she said an immigration adviser helped her apply for asylum, citing threats from creditors in Sri Lanka.
She was subsequently granted an open work visa for asylum seekers, allowing her to work for almost any employer for one year.
A Decision That Changed Everything
According to Ranasingha, she later secured a job at a restaurant whose management agreed to sponsor her for an employment-based visa. She believed this would provide her with greater long-term stability.
However, her application was rejected because asylum seekers in New Zealand are generally unable to apply for other visa categories while their asylum claims remain under consideration.
She then approached a firm called Immigration and Secretarial Services. Ranasingha alleges that the firm advised her that she could apply for a new employment-based visa from outside New Zealand.
Email correspondence reviewed by the BBC reportedly shows that the firm’s manager, Sylvian Gallant, indicated that the process would begin shortly after Ranasingha left the country.
Following this advice, Ranasingha travelled to the Cook Islands, intending to stay there briefly while her application was submitted.
The decision, however, had devastating consequences. Instead of securing a new visa, she found herself stranded, unable to return to New Zealand or travel home to Sri Lanka.
Her case highlights the serious consequences that can arise when people seeking immigration advice make decisions without fully understanding the impact on their existing visa and asylum status.
