Indian national who hid in truck to pass through Auckland's Covid-19 border to be deported

Amanpreet Kaur​ and Simranpreet​ Singh are set to be deported to India after breaching Covid-19 restrictions in September. Photo / Dean Purcell

At the peak of the city's Covid-19 restrictions, an Auckland woman illegally hid in an associate's truck to pass through the regional boundary to be with her husband in Rotorua.

But, despite having been suffering from depression and later criminally discharged without conviction, the breach means the couple will be deported to their home country after their humanitarian appeal failed.

Amanpreet Kaur​ and Simranpreet​ Singh were married in New Zealand in April last year. They both moved from their home country of India in the mid-2010s and met while living in New Zealand.

In September last year, Auckland was at the peak of its Covid-19 restrictions in alert level 4, with a hard regional boundary preventing travel in and out of the city.

At the time, Singh was living in Rotorua working as a baker in a supermarket, while Kaur was living in a boarding house in Auckland with plans to move south to be with her husband after finishing her studies.

Kaur claimed she was told to leave the boarding house, where she was living with three other males. Medical evidence provided to the tribunal showed the woman was suffering from anxiety and depression and wanted to be with her husband.

Singh arranged for a friend to pick up Kaur on September 15 in his truck, which was permitted to travel through the boundary to deliver goods.

The extraction was successful, but the couple were sprung after Kaur attempted to find a job in Rotorua. Police searched the couple's home in late September and both were charged and issued with a deportation liability notice.

Both were Covid-free, and it was found Kaur had isolated on her arrival in Rotorua.

In court, the couple each pleaded guilty to a charge of breaching the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act. Tauranga District Court Judge David Cameron did not convict them, however, due to the hardship of separation.

Tauranga District Court Judge David Cameron declined to convict the pair, saying there was genuine "significant hardship" relating to the offending. Photo / NZME

"Kaur suffered significant hardship after being trapped in Auckland. She was living in a flat with other Indian males and given their culture, felt unable to join them and spent most of her time alone in her room," Judge Cameron noted in his decision.

"In terms of whether the consequences of the conviction would be out of all proportion to the gravity of the offending, I am satisfied in the particular circumstances of this case, they would be out of all proportion."

Without a conviction, the couple appealed the deportation notice with the Immigration and Protection Tribunal on humanitarian grounds, based on the same evidence given to the court.

During the tribunal hearing, financial stress was also claimed by the couple. Singh, on his baker's salary, was supporting both Kaur in Auckland and his widowed mother in India, who was entirely dependent on her son.

A letter from Singh's employer confirmed he was working for the business - his work was described by his boss as "one of the highest levels of productivity and quality we have seen in a baker". He was a "kind-hearted and trustworthy" colleague.

If deported, the couple said it would be difficult to find employment, and they would also have to deal with "the Covid-19 pandemic, exacerbated by an air pollution crisis, civil unrest, general conflict and high crime levels, and face economic hardship".

In its decision, the tribunal accepted the deportation notice was issued by Immigration NZ before Judge Cameron's decision not to convict.

"The tribunal acknowledges that the circumstances of the appellants' offending, and their resultant sentences, indicate that their offending was at a low level."

The tribunal said the threshold for a humanitarian appeal was "exceptional" and the facts of the case simply didn't reach the required bar. The appeal was dismissed.

However, the tribunal did grant a discretionary five-month work visa, allowing the pair to save for airfares and prepare to return to India. They must leave the country by August.

The couple have the right to seek a direction from Immigration Minister Michael Wood to cancel their deportation liability.