Sam Katuszka, originally of Bristol, became a New Zealand citizen along with about 50 others in a citizenship ceremony at the Fullwood Room of the Dunedin Centre yesterday afternoon.
The self-employed electrician, who now lives in St Kilda with his wife Sady Katuszka and their children Meadow and Bowie, was the last in his family of four to be awarded citizenship.
Mr Katuszka describes his path to becoming a New Zealander almost as though it were chance, rather than fate.
"It was me and another sparkie, just working in England, and we thought, ‘let’s look at working overseas’," Mr Katuszka said yesterday.
"Originally, we looked at Australia, because that’s where everyone was going."
However, Mr Katuszka has type 1 diabetes and is insulin-dependent, and he soon learned he could not get the prescriptions he needed in Australia.
New Zealand became "the next country available".
"We applied, we got accepted, we booked one-way tickets, and yeah ..."
He moved to Christchurch to be part of the rebuild about a decade ago.
Soon after, a trip to Dunedin for a course to become a qualified electrician in New Zealand led to after-work drinks and a chance encounter with his future wife Sady in the Octagon.
In 2015, Mr Katuszka moved to Dunedin to live with his new partner.
The couple married in 2017.
They had their first child, daughter Meadow, in 2018, and then their son Bowie, in 2020.
"And then citizenship today," Mr Katuszka said.
Mr Katuszka is already mistaken for being a New Zealander at times.
"It is just nice to officially say that I am now a citizen, eh.
"I love it here.
"Nice people, very diverse, the weather ... I’m not too worried, I wear shorts all year round."
Asked if he would have stayed had he not met Sady, he said "Yes ... I’m sure I would have found her eventually."
New citizens — Israa M. M. Abosaleek (Palestine), Ahmad Abdul Karim Aboud Agha (Syria), Mona Abdelrahman Adawani (Syria), Sima Mohamad Ezzedin Jubna (Syria), Ghena Mohamad Ezzedin Jubna (Syria), Mohamad Ezzedin Mohamad Adel Jubna (Syria), Houda Abulla Al Hussen (Syria), Rachid Abduljalil Almobaid (Syria), Rahaf Mohamad Talal Almabaid (Syria), M. Talal Mohammad Almubaid (Syria), Safaa Rashed Mobaid (Syria), Eliott Christian Marcel Allemand (New Caledonia), Marc Kenneth Rimas Balaria (Philippines), Achwak Abdel Kader Batman (Syria), Maya Jamal Aldin Zaza (Syria), Duc Anh Cao (Vietnam), Abegail Vinas Carballo (Philippines), Alfred Efe Celik (Turkey), Cody Elworthy (United Kingdom), Caoimhe Patricia Higgins (Northern Ireland), Derek Michael Holmes (Ireland), Remya Jacob (India), Jeevan Kamble (India), Rohini Namuni (India), Samuel Charles Katuszka (England), Emma Liisa Kuparinen (Australia), Raimo Olavi Kuparinen (Finland), Nancy Ellen Longnecker (United States of America), Stijn Lamberts (Netherlands), Vann Louie Tenebro Llanos (Philippines), Venice Tenebro Llanos (Philippines), Edward James O’Connell (United Kingdom), Gwendolen Mary Pinches (United Kingdom), Miguel Andres Orellana Parra (Chile), Antonella Isadora Orellana Revello (Chile), Mahesh Prasad (India), Lilli Pauline Renner (Germany), Ben Stobite Sampson (Ghana), Ragnar Sein (Estonia), Abitha Thomas (India), Basil Vilakkappillil Kuriakose (India), Dalva Waechter (Brazil), Xiaoguang Wang (China), Harriet Alice Wheeler (India).
