An increased desire for New Zealand citizenship will mean an increase in the number of ceremonies in the Queenstown Lakes next year.
On Tuesday afternoon, at one of five ceremonies this year, 100 people officially became Kiwis — they represent 27 different countries, including Kiribati, the Republic of Korea, Argentina and the UK.
Ceremony organiser Sara Patterson says next year there’ll be an extra ceremony, bringing the total to four in Queenstown and two in Wānaka.
Among those affirming their loyalty to NZ, and receiving a native plant, was Cornelius Gregory, who hails from Bangladesh, pictured with his wife, Prianka Gomes.
Gregory, who managers apartments in Queenstown, came to Aotearoa as a student and fell in love with the country.
‘‘It became a dream to be a New Zealander,’’ he says, but it has been a hard road achieving it, separated from his family.
‘‘You have to study and you have to fulfil all the requirements, so it took me about 10 years to be standing here.’’
— MARK PRICE
