For one Cooranbong household who hail from Russia, it was a family affair.

Pastor Vadim Butov, wife Dr Elena Butov, and their children Alexey and Pavel all became citizens.

The couple first came to Australia in 2008 when they received an invitation from the local Seventh-day Adventist Church to speak at a camp of about 7000 people.

At the end of the camp, Mr Butov had accepted a job offer in Australia.

After securing work visas, the couple moved their family to Cooranbong in January 2010.

"When we arrived and looked around we said 'We like this country. We would love to stay here' so we applied for permanent residence, got our residence in a few months and then applied for citizenship," Mr Butov said.

"We're here because of the people. We love the people, we want to serve these people and we want to contribute our talents, our skills, and potential to the well-being of these people.

"We're here to give, we want to be a blessing, we want to be a benefit - that's our main goal.

"We don't want to take the honour and privilege to live in this country for granted. We want to give something in response."

Mr Butov said that he was surprised how at home he felt in Australia.

"I felt like I was coming home," he said.

"People ask me 'Did you have a cultural shock when you moved to Australia?'

"I keep telling them I had a cultural surprise. I was surprised that so many things that I believe, I share with the Australian people."

Mr Butov said he was very thankful to the community of Cooranbong for making his family's arrival "very pleasant".

"It was a very soft landing, because people hosted us with so much courtesy, love and hospitality," he said.