Fijian-born Anesh Chand, his wife Pritika and their six-year-old daughter Pranesha will take the citizenship oath at Launceston’s ceremony at the Albert Hall on Thursday.

The family moved to Tasmania from New Zealand in 2012 after moving from Fiji.

“When we first came here Launceston was small but to see it now, it has grown so much,” Mrs Chand said.

Mrs Chand, a radiographer in Fiji, said she and her husband first left their homeland in search of better employment and life opportunities.

They found that in New Zealand, where Mr Chand worked for five years as a dairy farm manager.

“We applied for residency in New Zealand and Australia at the same time,” Mrs Chand said.

“But while New Zealand rejected us, Australia had looked by my husband’s work history and skills and they had approved the residency.”

The pair, now accompanied by their daughter, who was born in New Zealand, had the difficult task of deciding where in Australia they would live.

“We had been to Tasmania for holidays a couple of times before moving,” Mr Chand said.

He said there was one moment that helped make up his mind to make the island state his home.

“We saw the bumper stickers, they said ‘experience the possibilities’ and we thought it was really inviting,” he laughed.

Mr Chand and his family moved to Smithton in 2012 where he took up more work in dairy while Mrs Chand was working at Tasmanian Dairy Products.

After Mrs Chand decided to take up a Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Tasmania, the trio moved once again, down the road to Launceston.

After a couple of years in nursing, Mrs Chand switched to biomedical science, where she is finishing up her degree in the hopes of becoming a medical researcher.

“We made a lot of lifelong friends in Tasmania, they are more like family than anything else,” Mrs Chand said.

The pair said they had made a home in Launceston with their daughter and hoped to stay after they completed their studies.

Mr Chand is studying finance at UTAS and hoped to still be involved in the agriculture industry.

The City of Launceston citizenship ceremony will be held on Thursday at Albert Hall, at 10am.