Dear Editor, We have been coming to the Cook Islands for 20 years for holidays. I retired five years ago and we decided we would like to live in the Cook Islands for an extended period.

We applied for a visa extension for a 12-month period (New Zealand citizen) which was eventually approved at a cost of $140 each.

We leased a rental property and purchased a new vehicle. When Immigration finally stamped our passports, we were advised that at the completion of 12 months we had to leave the Cook Islands for a period of six months, we had to give up the lease on our rental and sell our new vehicle, which proved rather costly.

It transpired that at the time the six-month stand-down period had not become law (January 2023).

Under the current Immigration legislation, we are only allowed to apply for two visa extensions, that’s it. It now costs $470 each.

We have spent a lot of money over the years, we receive a NZ pension, we have medical and health insurance, it costs the Cook Islands Government absolutely nothing.

So my question to you Mr Brown as PM and Minister of Immigration, why is it so difficult for people like us to stay in the Cook Islands when Cook Islanders on NZ passports can travel, live and work in NZ without any restrictions.

Make it fair for everyone.

(Name and address supplied)