Busy time for new NZ citizen
A PROUD Kiwi will have two significant ceremonies inside a month.
Tanimo Taulafo, from Samoa, became a New Zealand citizen at a ceremony in Dunedin on Wednesday and she has her wedding to look forward to later this month.
Miss Taulafo plans to marry Sam Collins, of Dunedin, in Wanaka.
The pair met in Samoa, when Mr Collins, who is originally from Samoa, went home for a birthday there.
Miss Taulafo (29) said she had dreamed of coming to New Zealand since she was a child.
She arrived in 2017 on a student visa and then also needed a work visa.
She studied private investing and entrepreneurship and is a Pacific Trust Otago receptionist and a HealthLink navigator.
Miss Taulafo said she had a sense of belonging in New Zealand.
‘‘The [citizenship] ceremony means everything to me,’’ she said.
‘‘I’m a very proud Kiwi.’’ Mr Collins (46) is a process manager at Westchem Industries, in Portobello.
He became a New Zealand citizen in 2005.
Other new citizens. — Cisco Anthony Andersen (Samoa), Bentley James Archer (Australia), Sarah Jane Clare Bell (England), Leon Eric
Cossou, Millie Cossou, Warren Andrew Cossou, Victoria Cossou, Victoria Cossou (England), Deo Saraswati (Fiji), Eseta Toelau Sologa (Samoa), Andrew Arnold Last (Australia), Bronwyn Jane
Lowe (Australia), Marie Coreen Estorco Mangaoang (Philippines), Ethan Roi Montaner (Philippines), Karen Montaner Smillie (Philippines), Xiaoyu Yin (China).