Ivan Martinez, his wife Amanda, and three children Ezra, Elias and Noa celebrated the day with friends after a citizenship ceremony at the Dunedin Centre, in Harrop St.
Mr Martinez said he and his wife had been discussing becoming New Zealand citizens for about a decade before taking the decision.
In the end, citizenship formalised their sense of belonging to a country they found to be "friendly, multicultural, diverse, safe and welcoming".
"It aligns with our values," Mr Martinez said.
"And there’s a neighbourliness here that we never experienced while living in the States."
For their children — who did not have any really strong connection with the United States — New Zealand was foundational.
"It’s their base.
Mr Martinez, who now works at the Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership, first arrived in Dunedin to study at the University of Otago on a Rotary ambassadorial scholarship and had only planned on being here for a year.
But his wife gave birth to their second son while they were here and the pair started to think New Zealand would be a good place to raise a family.
After a brief stint in Japan from 2017 to 2019, they settled in New Zealand for good.
Mr Martinez said he moved from a student visa to a working visa to a resident visa to a permanent resident visa and when he qualified for citizenship, he pursued that.
The climate in Dunedin is "so much colder" than his home state of Florida, but this was his hometown now.
"Now we’re so used to it, we’ve gone back to visit family, and we’re like, we could never live here again: it’s too hot.
"At least we get a bit of breeze — a cool breeze off the ocean, you know?"
Among those who became New Zealanders yesterday was award-winning University of Otago evolutionary virologist Prof Jemma Geoghegan.
The specialist in emerging infectious diseases, originally from Fife, Scotland, has been here permanently since January 2020.
Prof Geoghegan said she married a New Zealander and her two children "are Kiwis".
"I see New Zealand as my home, so it made sense to me to become a citizen." — Allied Media
Other new citizens: Hussein A M Ali (Iraq); Ahmed A M Ali (Iraq); Enya Viktoria Abele (Germany); Tasnim M A Abuasad (State of Palestine); Sanyoura M A Abuasad (State of Palestine); Anas M A Abuasad (State of Palestine); Dawlat Ahmed Adiah (State of Palestine); Ali Mohamad Al Issa (Syrian Arab Republic); Rowena Dela Torre Almonte (Philippines); Virgilio Castanares Almonte (Philippines); Mark Elton Dela Torre Almonte (Philippines); Mark Raven Dela Torre Almonte (Philippines); Laura Mary Althorpe (United Kingdom); James Joseph Kettle (United Kingdom); Eniya Elizaba Baby (India); Anumol Jacob (India); Baby Vettikkattil Paulose (India); Debbie-Reina Davis (England); Ana Dominique Mercado Deang (Philippines); Stephen John Earp (England); Christina Rebekka Ergler (Germany); Richard John Eve (United Kingdom); Yuriy Sergiyovych Fedorovych (Ukraine); Shuangrun Feng (China); Jennifer Fiala (China); Nicole Fiala (China); Jasmine Fiala (China); Jindrich Fiala (Czech Republic); Qian Jia (China); Pedro Gomes Louzada (Brazil); Anne Elizabeth Hinton (United Kingdom); Jennifer Mae Jandt (United States of America); Bin Ji (China); Leah Norup Juhl (Denmark); Abigail Newton Kakumanu (India); Oswin Newton Kakumanu (India); Phebe Munigeti (India); Andrew Gordon Legg (United Kingdom); Tautuaa Malaefoou (Tonga); Hans Linus Martinsson (Sweden); Sandra Patricia Mattes-Renner (Germany); Markus Joachim Renner (Germany); Joseph Michael Mortimer (United Kingdom); Wahida Paktiawal (Afghanistan); Lipson Pathappillil Varghese (India); Haiyan Peng (China); Pasina Tavita Peni (Samoa); Nidhindas Peringadan Dasan (India); Sadhika Peringadan Nidhindas (India); Sadhika Peringadan Nidhindas (India); Soumya Vadakka Parameswaran (India); Jane Michelle Pike (Australia); Aishwarya Rajan (India); Shivam Rawat (India); Robert Graeme Riley (United Kingdom); Satu Robertson (Samoa); Bruce Cameron Robertson (Australia); Khrystyna Samsonova (Ukraine); Alethea Anne Taylor (United Kingdom) and Josef Zetko (Serbia).
