Jennifer Jackson (22), who participated in a New Zealand citizenship ceremony in Dunedin yesterday, is one such person.
Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, she moved to New Zealand with her family in 2004.
Her mother and sister completed the citizenship process in Auckland, where they live, but after studying at the University of Otago, Miss Jackson decided to have her ceremony in Dunedin.
Her family left South Africa in search of a safer place to live, and she said she liked the "freedom" of New Zealand.
A range of nationalities were represented at the ceremony yesterday as 19 people swore their allegiance to New Zealand.
Participants included: Richard and Joanne Greatbanks of Britain; Carol Kumar Ram of Fiji; Keith, Anne, Matthew, Philippa and Edward Stansfield of Britain; Chin-Yin Tsai of Taiwan; Casey Ung of Malaysia; Haosong Zhao of China; Adam and Lynne Binns of Britain; Nadene Moore of South Africa; Aarti, Kamil and Priyal Patel of South Africa; Andrew Westgate of Britain; and Jennifer Jackson of South Africa.
In absentia: Jong Lee of Korea; Alana Loftin of America; Sarab Parmar of Fiji; Hailing Situ of China; and Hui and Trent Zhang of China.
