Dr Thomas Joseph and Reen Skaria moved to Dunedin about three years ago from their home in Kerala, in the south of India.
This week, they and their 7-year-old son Joshua Thomas became New Zealand citizens in a citizenship ceremony held at the municipal chambers, in Dunedin.
Another 29 people also became citizens.
Mrs Skaria is a nurse at Dunedin Hospital and her husband, a doctor.
Their son Joshua started at George Street Normal School and had fitted in well, Mrs Skaria said.
Yesterday, he was wearing a sherwani, a traditional outfit worn during special occasions.
They had chosen to come to Dunedin because Dr Joseph had a sister who lived here.
New citizens: Britain: Prof William Garside; Robin, Linda, Victoria and Emma Clifford; Dr Susan Fleming; Dr Jonathan, Alexander and Katharine Woolrych; Dr Glenn Brown. Vietnam: Son Duong. South Africa: Alan, Dr Leigh, Jennifer and Michelle Hale. Korea: Brian Ham. India: Dr Thomas Joseph, Reen Skaria and Joshua Thomas. Malaysia: Peter and Andrew Lim, Thoshenthri Kandasamy. Hong Kong: Wai McAuslan-Kwok. Philipines: Hilda McGill. Sri Lanka: Deloshan Nawarajan. Fiji: Joytika Wing, Monil Gohil. China: Qi Gray, Yuanjun Li, Dongfeng, Zhixiao Wang. Netherlands: Tjetsje Meerstra.
