Passport forger wins right to stay

A man jailed for his part in an international passport-forging operation has been allowed to stay in New Zealand.

The immigration minister signed the order for his deportation to Iraq in September 2005, after his release in May.

But the order was appealed against to the Deportation Review Tribunal and overturned last week.

In 2004, Fahad Jaber Ajeil, 33, was convicted of 14 counts of passport forgery, possession of implements for forgery and conspiracy to commit forgery and sentenced to five years' jail.

The Crown said Ajeil and his brother-in-law Riyad Sultan were in the process of forging passports and travel documents for 17 countries.

Ajeil had been granted his New Zealand residency in 2002, the year before the offending.

Ajeil's wife, mother-in-law, and brother-in-law entered New Zealand as refugees in 2001 - and were joined by him in 2002.

The tribunal was read a psychiatric report which said Ajeil suffered from "depression with a high level of anxiety" and "longstanding personality vulnerabilities" caused by childhood trauma. He has claimed his mother threw him down a well.

The psychiatrist believed deportation to Iraq could "push him over the edge" and assessed his risk of reoffending as low.

His wife, Ghuzlan Sultan, 23, told the tribunal that her world came crashing down when her husband and brother, Sultan, were arrested. She suffered from depression, brought about by the thought of losing her husband, and had attempted suicide at least twice since the deportation order was issued.

The tribunal found Ajeil was at low risk of reoffending and took into account the effect deportation would have on his wife, in particular, and their 16-month-old son.

"His wife is deeply attached to him and has psychiatric issues, largely connected with her anxiety at losing her husband.

"The appellant has a young son ... [and] there can be no doubt that his best interests lie in remaining with both his parents."

It agreed with Ajeil, as did the Immigration Service, that he was essentially "stateless", having been forced to leave the country of his birth, Kuwait, in 1992.

"As to Iraq, while the appellant previously lived there legally, there is no evidence that he acquired Iraqi nationality or the right to a passport."