Immigration FAQs

Circumstances will differ depending on the type of permanent residence, visa or permit you are applying for.

For example, if you are applying for permanent residence as the spouse of a Cook Islander, your relationship with that Cook Islander is a circumstance relevant to your application.

If you apply for a work visa and permit, your specific role and contract conditions are circumstances that are directly relevant to your application.

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A material change is one that has real importance or great consequence. It is a change in your circumstances that will have a significant affect your application and the immigration status you applied for.

It is important because you are required to meet certain criteria to be granted a visa or permit, or permanent residence. If you can no longer meet these criteria, this can affect the outcome of your application.

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For example, if you are applying for permanent residence as the spouse of a Cook Islander and you separate from your partner, the circumstances that you based your application on have changed materially.

If you apply for a work visa and permit based on being a chef in a resort restaurant, but your employer decides that you are needed at the reception desk instead, that is a material change in circumstances as it changes the functions of the role you based your application on.

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The Cook Islands Immigration Regulations specify some, including:

• the death of any person relevant to the application
• the separation of the applicant from their spouse, if the spouse was a party to the application or sponsoring the application
• the arrest for a criminal offence in any country, or the conviction for an offence in any country
• any change to the standard of health, including the identification or diagnosis of a condition that might pose a danger to public health or impose significant costs or demands on the Cook Islands publicly funded health service
• any change to the applicant’s health status that could reasonably affect the applicant’s ability to carry out the work that they will be entering the Cook Islands to carry out
• any change to the applicant’s ability to maintain sufficient funds for the duration of their stay in the Cook Islands
• any change to the ability to maintain an onwards travel plan for the duration of the permit
• any material change to, or withdrawal of, the applicant’s sponsorship
• any material change to, or withdrawal from, an agreement between the applicant and an employer, education provider, or intern provider.

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No, you must tell us about a material change for any party that is relevant to the application. This means any person named in your application or supporting your application. It can include your spouse, dependent children, parents, guardians, sponsors, employers, education providers, etc.

For example, if your education provider files for bankruptcy and can no longer offer your course, this will affect your study visa and permit.

Or, if you are applying for a visa and permit based on sponsorship from someone living in the Cook Islands and that person returns to their home country, that is a material change.

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If you are applying for permanent residence, you must keep us informed right up to the time the permanent residence is granted.

If you are applying for a visa or permit, you must also keep us informed up until the time the visa or permit is granted. But you must also inform us of any material change in circumstances as a condition of holding the visa or permit. So, you need to keep us up to date until the visa or permit expires.

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You need to let us know promptly. This means as soon as you possibly can, within a reasonable timeframe.

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If you do not tell us about a material change in circumstances during the application process, your application will be automatically declined.

Any visa or permit granted based on fraud or misinformation will be cancelled, and anyone who breaches the conditions of their visa and permit will have that visa or permit cancelled. Cancellation will result in you being unlawfully in the Cook Islands and liable for deportation.

It is also an offence for an employer or education provider to fail to report a material change in circumstances of their employee or student.

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The law relating to material changes in circumstances is in regulations 62 and 63 of the Cook Islands Immigration Regulations 2023. Legislation relating to offences is set out Part 17 of the Cook Islands Immigration Act 2021.

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A sponsor is a natural person or entity who guarantees that the person they sponsor will comply with immigration requirements while in the Cook Islands and depart when their visa and permit expire. The sponsor also provides accommodation while the person is in the Cook Islands.

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A sponsor can be a registered business, government agency or department, registered NGO or church, a natural person, or other entity capable of entering into agreements as a body corporate. A person’s employer and their sponsor do not necessarily have to be the same person.

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All sponsors (natural persons or businesses) must sign a declaration form set out in Schedule 7 of the Immigration Regulations. In addition, they must:

• not owe any debt to the Department of Immigration (including outstanding fines or fees)
• have sufficient funds to meet their obligations under the sponsorship arrangement
• not be insolvent or have been declared bankrupt
• be able to maintain their sponsorship of a person for the duration of any visa or permit or visa or permit waiver granted to that person
• not enter into an agreement with the person being sponsored or any other person for any financial or other gain or reward in return for agreeing to act as a sponsor, or any reimbursement of monies paid as a result of the sponsorship
• not have made a false declaration in relation to an immigration or employment matter or process
• pay any amounts incurred as a debt to the Crown as a consequence of the sponsorship
• provide accommodation that satisfies the building health standards under section 13 of the Public Health Act 2004 and:
  • includes a watertight, enclosed building with operational doors and windows
  • is maintained to protect the occupants from any health and safety risks present at the accommodation.

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Your sponsor must guarantee to ensure you meet immigration conditions. If these conditions of sponsorship are breached, your permit may be cancelled, and you may be refused future sponsorship and permits. You will probably be removed from the Cook Islands back to your home country.

If a sponsor fails to comply and the Crown suffers loss as a consequence, the amount of that loss is a debt due to the Crown and may be recovered accordingly. If a sponsor fails to comply with their obligations under a sponsorship, the sponsor is not entitled to sponsor again unless the Principal Immigration Officer allows it.

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You can transfer your sponsor if your original sponsor becomes unavailable, or unsuitable, while you still hold a valid permit. The new sponsor must meet the sponsorship criteria and pay a sponsorship transfer fee. If you have sufficient funds and accommodation, you may be able to show the Principal Immigration Officer that you no longer need sponsorship.

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No. Sponsors must not enter into an agreement with the sponsored person or another person for:

• any financial or other gain or reward in return for agreeing to act as a sponsor, or
• any reimbursement of monies paid as a result of the sponsorship.

Examples of this include:

• where the sponsor who is also an employer pays for an airfare for an employee/sponsored person, then makes an agreement with that person to recover that airfare as part of their wages
• where the sponsor makes the person pay them a percentage of their weekly wage as payment for them agreeing to be a sponsor.

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No. Sponsored persons cannot sponsor people in turn. A sponsored person who wishes to bring their family to the Cook Islands (and is able to under their visa/permit) would need to ask their sponsor or a different person to sponsor the family.

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The legislation includes sponsorship criteria at sections 79-81 of the Cook Islands Immigration Act 2021. Also see regulations Part 3, Subpart 1 and Schedule 7 of the Cook Islands Immigration Regulations 2023.

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