The 50-year-old Sri Lankan national initially held an asylum seeker open work visa before leaving New Zealand for the Cook Islands to pursue an employer-sponsored visa that was ultimately denied. By departing, she violated her status, leading New Zealand officials to bar her from future entry and deny three transit applications over concerns she will not leave. Australia has similarly denied four separate transit applications, eliminating the primary commercial flight paths out of the archipelago. Alternate routes through Tahiti or Hawaii remain completely blocked because both jurisdictions require in-person biometric submissions that can only be completed in New Zealand.
Key points
Flawed immigration advice led to an accidental visa breach that permanently barred Ranasi…: Flawed immigration advice led to an accidental visa breach that permanently barred Ranasingha from entering New Zealand airspace.
Regional transit denials have completely severed standard flight paths required for the s…: Regional transit denials have completely severed standard flight paths required for the stranded traveler to reach Sri Lanka.
Strict biometric collection rules in foreign jurisdictions leave stranded travelers in re…: Strict biometric collection rules in foreign jurisdictions leave stranded travelers in remote Pacific territories without viable alternative routes home.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
- Published
When Ruchira Ranasingha left Sri Lanka almost a decade ago, she could never have imagined she would end up stranded on a tiny archipelago in the South Pacific.
The 50-year-old has now been stuck in the Cook Islands for three years. She tells the BBC she is desperate to go back to Sri Lanka and has even offered to go "handcuffed, bound and gagged".
Ranasingha had been hoping to settle in New Zealand.
After seeking asylum there, she says she followed an immigration adviser's recommendation to temporarily exit the country to apply for a work visa. But once in the Cook Islands, her application was rejected. And by leaving New Zealand, she had breached the terms of her existing asylum-linked visa.
Now New Zealand is refusing to issue her a transit visa that would allow her to fly home to Sri Lanka.
Australia is refusing too. The only other international destinations she can fly to from the Cook Islands - Tahiti and Hawaii - require her to give biometric information in New Zealand before any visa can be…
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