"When I came first in Australia, I was surprised to see how the sky is so blue - bright blue, with very good weather. I couldn't find a beautiful sky like that in the UK," he said.

"Some of my friends had told me, 'you should come to Australia, you'll love it'. And when I saw the beaches - my god - spectacular, very nice, beautiful.

"I thought to myself, 'I made a great decision'."

Mr Rahman and his wife, Sharmin Akter, are among 221 people from more than 40 countries poised to become Australian citizens at ceremonies in Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama this Australia Day.

The new citizens hail from Kenya, Germany and Syria, with a large United Kingdom contingent and an American family-of-four among them.

Mr Rahman arrived in Australia July 2014, two years after marrying his "love match" and former next-door neighbour in Bangladesh, Sharmin.

The couple have since settled in East Corrimal.

Now a system engineer for a NSW utilities company, Mr Rahman has become a citizen under the Global Talent Visa Program, a visa pathway intended smooth the pathway for highly skilled professionals to work and live permanently in Australia.

"I always tell my friends it is a place where you can actually live your dream," he said. "You can make your dream happen here," he said.

Mrs Akter, who has an accounting qualification, said she was looking forward to becoming an Australian citizen.

"I can't sleep because I'm that excited," she said.

ANGELA THOMPSON