Taking the pledge with wife Arzoo Asifi, 40, sons Abid, 13, Assad, 12, and daughter Syeda Aleena, 10, the 45-year-old says that after arriving from Pakistan in 2016, they feel blessed to have been welcomed into their ‘wonderful, new life’.
“Australia is the land of opportunities and so it has been for my family,” he said.
“It was tough to start with but my wife and I got jobs as catalogue distributors. She now works as a part-time teachers’ aid while studying childcare and also works as a volunteer at a Saturday school.
“I became part of the Census team, going from door to door and meeting so many people, before joining Telstra for the NBN rollout and then a smart water company about three years ago.
“My children are also doing well with the boys at Merrylands High School and daughter at Merrylands Primary.”
After just buying a house, Syed said they wanted to become official ‘Aussies’ and help secure their future.
“We are so thrilled we took the next step of becoming citizens and are very happy, proud and thrilled.”
They were among 450 people who took the oath on Monday at a ceremony at the Granville Centre, with another 600 people becoming citizens on June 28 to help clear the backlog when citizenship ceremonies were put on hold last year over Covid.
Mayor Steve Christou said that with international border closures, it was more important than ever for residents to have certainty in their citizenship status.
“Conducting citizenship ceremonies is one of the happiest and most important parts of my role as Mayor. I wish everyone the best and welcome them to our local government area, our home,” he said.
