Smiles aplenty as 1000 join 'family'

With torrential rain and a swirling wind outside, new citizen William Gai smiled wryly as he explained why he had chosen to live in New Zealand.

"I like the climate. It is mild, and warm ... It is very good here."

Originally from Sudan, Mr Gai was one of 1000 people who gave the oath of allegiance in Auckland and became New Zealand citizens yesterday.

Grinning broadly and itching to get his certificate, he was an hour early and at the front of the queue.

The 25-year-old's walk across the stage at the Aotea Centre signalled the end of a long road from war-torn Sudan, which he fled in 2004.

"I want to spend the rest of my life here," he said. "Very few Sudanese are here. I did not come here with the intention of staying. But it is safe. And the climate is good, not so dry."

People from Tibet, China, Zimbabwe, Fiji and Kuwait filled the centre and cheered as Internal Affairs Minister Richard Worth said: "Welcome to the family."

New Zealand's weather also influenced a Bangladeshi family's decision to become citizens.

Nafizur Rahman, 67, who followed his son Downunder, said: "Bangladesh is undergoing great changes. The climatic conditions are difficult and making the poverty worse. It is overcrowded ... and very poor."

Vesela Hristova, from Bulgaria, brought a colourful touch from her homeland for the ceremony. She wore a traditional dress embroidered by her mother back home, and carried white and red roses.

"I came here for the lifestyle," she said. "It is much more relaxed. My parents were not so sure at first, but then they visited my home, on Waiheke Island, and were very pleased for me."

Not all were from distant lands. A handful of New Zealanders, including a 90-year-old who had lived in Auckland all her life, were confirmed as citizens.

They had somehow been missed by the 1949 British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act, which automatically made New Zealand-born residents and their children citizens.