SOME had come across the ocean from India, others from Nigeria or New Zealand.
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A married couple worked at Big W, with the wife studying to become a nurse inbetween shifts at the store.
Yet another couple worked in a factory after having been refugees from Bhutan.
But despite their diverse pasts, these 17 will forever have something in common.
On Australia Day, 2016, in sunshine of 23 degrees in Wodonga's Les Stone Park, they became Australian citizens.
Lined up before Wodonga mayor Anna Speedie and with relatives watching, the group pledged allegiance to a new homeland.
The formalities complete, Girl Guides presented them each with a bouquet of native flowers.
For Harsimrat Singh it was a trek that began in 2006 when he moved from north India to Melbourne to study automotive mechanics.
Seeking permanent residency, he came to Wodonga in 2011 after sponsorship from the Murray region.
"The culture, the people – I want to stay here now," Mr Singh, a nightfill worker at Coles Wodonga Plaza supermarket, said.
"Australians are good people, they are people from different countries and different cultures."
His wife Iqbal Kaur and daughter Iknoor, born in September, joined him.
Other new Australians included social worker and soccer player Adewunmi Adenaike (Nigeria), 20 year-old Ian Casera (Philippines) and a resident of 37 years Berta Laubli (Switzerland).
Big W workers Harvir Grewal and Ramneet Kooner (India) were one of two married couples with the others, refugees Gauri and Naina Subedi (Bhutan).
The Jornadal family – Ginalyn, Ruel, Gjay and Austin – came from the Philippines while Healther Fielding (Britain) became enamoured with Australia while on holidays and decided to stay permanently.
Mother-of-two Fibi Alef Amin Felita (Egypt), gardener Stacey Ryan (Britain), security guard Manu Sood (India) and Echuca commuter Daryl Walker (New Zealand) also joined the nation's citizenry.
