Passport issues are hindering a homeless couple from moving off the streets and into a house in the Cook Islands.

Janice Taylor and Upoko Marters, who have been living on the streets in Whakatāne for the past few years, have been trying to get passports so they can go to Mr Marters’ home country of the Cook Islands, where he owns an eight-bedroom house and a three-bedroom sleepout left to him by his parents.

The couple say they are having difficulty finding someone who has known them for at least a year and holds a valid New Zealand passport to act as their identity referee or witness for their passport applications.

Ms Taylor said she had “asked a lot of people”, but none of them held a New Zealand passport.

Ms Taylor was born in Auckland but has been moving around the North Island since she was 16.

She ended up in Whakatāne in 2022 when she was offered a transitional place to stay, but that was for a short time, and she has been sleeping rough for over two years.

Mr Marters was born in the Cook Islands but has lived in Whakatāne for the past 40 years.

The couple, aged in their late 50s and early 60s, said they just wanted to have a roof over their head during winter.

They are hoping to have gained passports by then.

Recently, the couple was attacked while using the public toilets at the Skate Park and ended up in hospital.

The attack left them shaken, but with nowhere to go, they are back in their tent.

They have been getting some help from a local person, but she does not have a New Zealand passport, making her unable to be an identity referee or witness for them.

However, she has been assisting them with the passport application and has even offered to pay for their flights to the Cook Islands.

The woman, who did not want to be named, said it was the least she could do.

Anyone who has known Ms Taylor and Mr Marters for more than a year, has a valid passport, and is prepared to be an identity referee can contact [email protected]