After a life full of travelling, Devorah Sherman has decided Dunedin is her place in the sun.
Ms Sherman and 64 others were granted their citizenship at the Fullwood Room in Dunedin yesterday.
Ms Sherman, born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and an American father, migrated to Jerusalem with her family in 1985.
She said her father was a Jewish man who converted to Christianity and wanted to move to Jerusalem.
When she was 11, her family moved to the United States because her parents wanted to go back to university.
She eventually left home and travelled the world for 21 years, visiting five different countries including England, Australia and back to Palestine.
About 10 years ago, she arrived in New Zealand, hitch-hiking and camping around the country.
She visited Coromandel, Picton and the West Coast, making her way to the Catlins before arriving in Dunedin.
"I’d heard Dunedin was a pretty cool city and had a pretty good music scene."
She ended up staying after she met her former partner.
However, she left him after two years and, as a result, lost her right to stay in New Zealand.
Nonetheless, she was granted a six-month visa for domestic abuse survivors.
After a long bureaucratic process, she was given a work visa through her employer and, three years ago, she was granted permanent residency.
She was later allowed to apply for citizenship and yesterday became a New Zealander.
She said she felt emotional during the ceremony.
"It’s been a massive, massive journey.
"Because I had such a strange background, I never felt like I belonged to any of the countries I was technically from."
She felt like an outsider all her life, but finally felt settled in Dunedin.
"I have no desire to move. I never want to pack a box again."
Ms Sherman said she felt a spiritual connection to Dunedin and worked as an adviser for the Ministry for the Environment.
"I cannot imagine living anywhere else."
New citizens —
Anchalee Adamson (Thailand); Mohamed Alhalak (Syria); Basma Alhalak (Lebanon); Hamida Alsaid (Syria); Sarthak Arora (India); Ishan Aryal (Nepal); Emilia Asoba (South Africa); Mary Asoba (Cameroon); Adolf Asoba (Cameroon); Arielle Bangah (Malaysia); Aayden Bangah (Malaysia); Alyssa Bangah (Malaysia); Patricia Tudin (Malaysia); Dorothy Bheemunipadu (India); Michael Cartwright (Wales); Aasma Chopra (India); David Ciccoricco (United States); Beryl Lebowitz (United States); Isa de Vries (Netherlands); Victor Gatimel (New Caledonia); Caroline Gatimel (France); Jeanne Gatimel (New Caledonia); Bruno Gatimel (France); Marvin Gomez (Philippines); Kathlyn Gomez (Philippines); Psalm Gomez (Philippines); Caitlyn Gomez (Philippines); Ecclesiastina Gomez (New Zealand); Laura Gumy (Argentina); Miguel Herrera Hinojosa (Chile); Renata Herrera Rojas (Chile); Jacinta Herrera Rojas (Chile); Maria Rojas Amador (Chile); Morgan Horner (Canada); Yuyao Huang (China); Clifford Ibarra (Philippines); Harlaine Sanchez (Philippines); Amandeep Kaur (India); Cameron Koykka (United States); Maksym Kryvonos (Ukraine); Hanna Timajo (Ukraine); E Arachchige Kumarasinghe (Sri Lanka); Cabot Latawan (Philippines); John Latawan (Philippines); Angus Lewry (Wales); Samantha Marsh (United States); Jamie McCall (United Kingdom); Kevin Michael (Oman); Yongling Nie (China); Jiawei Yu (China); Kejun Yu (China); Karin Reid (United Kingdom); Astra Rodrigo (United States); Lelande Rodrigo (United States); Shayne Rolfe (Australia); Ryan Ruscheinsky (Australia); Imogen Salvage (United Kingdom); Devorah Sherman (Sweden); Miles Sobrevilla (Philippines); Ella Viray (Philippines); Himanshu Thapa (India); Ofa Vakauta (Tonga); Chi Wong (Hong Kong); Celeste Zarrabi (South Africa); Amir Zarrabi (South Africa).
