Mrs van Heezik, from Ba in Fiji, was one of 18 people who took an affirmation or oath to become a New Zealand citizen this week at a ceremony at the Municipal Chambers.
"Just because I married a Dunedin man," was her reason for ending up in the city.
Mrs van Heezik arrived in New Zealand on May 15, 2000, and four days later, George Speight stormed Fiji's Parliament House, taking the government of then prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry hostage.
Mrs van Heezik was unable to return, came to Dunedin to visit a friend, met her husband Marcel van Heezik, and her future city of residence was decided.
The couple were married in December that year.
Dunedin was quieter both politically and otherwise, and she liked the slower pace of life compared with larger cities such as Auckland, she said.
Others to swear allegiance were: Rahul Rohitesh Prasad, Fiji; Delon Benitto Rayen, Sri Lanka; Jonathan Marriott Boyd, Britain; Dorothy Helen Boyd, Britain; Glenn Stephen Brown, Britain; Paula Finau Halaleva, Sivoki Halaleva, Analupe Kaufusi Halaleva, Lisala Ongoongotau Halaleva, Tonga; Simon Charles Hart, Britain; Lindsay Fiona Robertson, Britain; Sarah Charlotte Saunderson, Britain; Gene Teo, Malaysia; Marius Albert van Staden, South Africa; Jonathan Michael Woolrych, Alexander Kirk Woolrych, Katharine Suzy Woolrych, Britain.
