It was a day of celebration for the Khan family on Wednesday.
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Muhammad Kashif Khan, his wife Fizza and daughter Nabeera became Australian citizens.
They were part of the 25 people who now officially call Australia home.
It's been 10 years since the family left Pakistan. For five years they lived in Sydney, followed by three years in Bourke - where they were the only Muslim family - and the last two in Dubbo.
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Ms Khan said it had been a long journey to become Australian citizens, but the family felt blessed to be in the land of opportunity. Moving to Australia was a way to give Nabeera, who is currently in Year 8, a better education.
Ms Khan said she loved living in Dubbo and the close connections in the community.
"We don't have any family here so you all have been our family," Ms Khan said.
One of the things she was most excited about now she was an Australian citizen was being able to get a job. Ms Khan said she wanted to contribute to the community and while she had been doing volunteer work, she had been rejected from positions because she wasn't a citizen.
Naberra said she loved "everything" about Australia, especially the increased opportunities. She's planning to be a motivational speaker one day to inspire young girls and women.
Mr Khan said they would next move to Melbourne, to further Naberra's education, but it would be hard leaving Dubbo. His wife and daughter both cried at the decision, he said.
However, Mr Khan said they loved living in regional Australia and hoped to move back one day.
Of all the places they had lived, Mr Khan said he loved Dubbo for the peace, lack of traffic and the people.
Not so much the Vegemite, which Mr Khan said wasn't nearly as nice as honey.
Wednesday also marked the end of Ramadan, giving the family another reason to celebrate.
The new citizens are:
- Marie Claire Ordiz Guadalupe
- Delma Popi Hianjuku
- Kuljeet Singh Mann
- Tegvir Singh Mann
- Archana Neupane
- Shreyana Shrestha
- Thanh Dan Thi Nguyen
- Chithra Ann Paul
- Ritesh Raj Shrestha
- Leontien Valk-Abel
- Shiju Thomas Thomas
- Joan Christie Vadakkethalakkal Samu
- Fizza Kashif Khan
- Nabeera Khan
- Muhammad Kashif Salim Khan
- Harminder Singh
- Sukhman Kaur Gill
- Harpreet Kaur
- Sasenie Vintara Jayanetty
- My Ngoc Ngo Nguyen
- Uthpala Tikiri Kumarihamy Ratnayake Wathulande Ratnayake Mudiyanselage
- Pethmin Ranmika Sanujaya Jayaweera Ratnayake Mudiyanselage
- Caiyun Zheng
- Hanwen Yin