Travel Advisory | Cook Islands

TRAVEL ADVISORY UPDATE

TRAVEL ADVISORY
FOR TRAVELLING TO THE COOK ISLANDS

GOVERNMENT OF THE COOK ISLANDS

TE KAUONO TUTARA E TE MANA TIAKI - MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND IMMIGRATION

17 March 2022

Notice of Amended Travel Advisory as at 17 March 2022

The Cook Islands current Section 9A Notice for refusal of Entry under the Entry, Residence and Departure Act 1971-72, signed into effect from 12 May 2020 and still active is as follows:

All persons are denied entry into the Cook Islands unless there is an exemption provided (in writing) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration (MFAI).

Effective from 11.59pm Thursday 17 March 2022 (CKT) the following groups of persons are exempted for entry into the Cook Islands, provided they meet the entry criteria specified in the COVID-19 (Air Border) Regulations 2022, summarised below:

1. Group 1 - Any person who is visiting the Cook Islands under a visitor's permit (tourist) must

be vaccinated and provide evidence of vaccination; and
have completed the online COVID-19 information form no earlier than 96 hours before the scheduled departure time of their flight to the Cook Islands; and
provide a negative result from a Covid-19 test carried out in NZ, -

in the case of a RT-PCR test, no earlier than 48 hours before the scheduled departure time of their flight to the Cook Islands; or
in the case of a supervised Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), no earlier than 24 hours before the scheduled departure time of their flight to the Cook Islands.

Exemption from Vaccination
A person in group 1 who is under the age of 5 years and 3 months is exempt from the requirement to be vaccinated.

2. Group 2 - Any person who holds a valid Cook Islands issued Immigration permit, other than a visitor permit, must:

provide evidence of Immigration permit; and
be vaccinated and provide evidence of vaccination; and
have completed the online COVID-19 information form no earlier than 96 hours before the scheduled departure time of their journey to the Cook Islands; and
provide a negative result from a Covid-19 test carried out in New Zealand. -

in the case of a RT-PCR test, no earlier than 48 hours before the scheduled departure time of their flight to the Cook Islands; or
in the case of a supervised Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), no earlier than 24 hours before the scheduled departure time of their flight to the Cook Islands.

5. Only those under 5 years and 3 months old are exempt from (2) above.

Exemptions from Vaccination requirements - a person from group 2 is exempted from the vaccination requirements if:

they have a medical exemption from vaccination or
if they are under the age of 5 years and 3 months or
is a partially vaccinated child under the age of 12 years

A partially vaccinated child means a child who

has received only the first dose of a 2 dose course of Covid-19 Vaccine and
Received the first dose at least 14 days before the scheduled departure date of their flight to the Cook Islands.
Provide evidence of having received the first dose and the date on which they received it.

3. Group 3- A person who is a Cook Islander or Permanent resident and child of Permanent Resident must

If a Cook Islander-provide evidence of their Cook Islands status; if Permanent resident - must provide evidence of their Permanent Resident status
have completed the online COVID-19 information form no earlier than 96 hours before the scheduled departure time of their journey to the Cook Islands
provide a negative result from a Covid-19 test carried out in NZ. -

in the case of a RT-PCR test, no earlier than 48 hours before the scheduled departure time of their flight to the Cook Islands; or
in the case of a supervised Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), no earlier than 24 hours before the scheduled departure time of their flight to the Cook Islands.

B) Applies to all travellers - Delayed or Rebooked flights

If the person does not leave New Zealand on a flight to the Cook Islands within 24 hours after their scheduled departure time, the person must comply with all the requirements according to their specific groups as identified above.

All travellers must meet Cook Islands Immigration Entry requirements

All queries regarding this travel advisory can be directed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration (Te Kauono Tutara e te Mana Tiaki on email: [email protected]