Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Benjamin Ringers | MISAWA, Japan (April 28, 2022) – Mrs. Flor Elizabeth Pasno Tran signs her...... read more read more
MISAWA, Japan – The first U.S. Navy-affiliated person was naturalized at Misawa Air Base, April 28, 2022.
Mrs. Flor Elizabeth Pasno Tran, wife of Aviation Support Equipment Technician 1st Class Tommy Tran, became naturalized after becoming interested in becoming an officer in the U.S. Military as well as other opportunities reserved for U.S. citizens.
“He [Mr. Tran] actually opened my eyes to applying for a military officer program,” said Mrs. Tran. “Since I had already finished my degree, I only needed to meet one more requirement to be eligible to be an officer in the U.S. military, which is to be a U.S. citizen.”
The citizenship process can be challenging, sometimes taking people years to complete all necessary paperwork, interviews, and appointments. COVID-19 also created lots of unforeseen challenges for people trying to become naturalized.
“After I got here, I waited two months and restarted the application process. That’s when it got frustrating because of COVID making all of the waiting times longer. After paying the application fee, they give you an estimated timeline, and because of COVID, it just kept on extending,” said Mrs. Tran.
However, enduring the hurdles that come with the naturalization process is a great accomplishment that can pay off immensely.
Mr. Tran explains, “Now that she has her citizenship there is no reason why they [employers] can turn her down anymore, she has the experience, she has the time, she has the work under her belt, and she’s ready for it.”
Because this is the first U.S. Navy-affiliated person to become naturalized in Misawa, it could be considered a stepping stone towards making the process easier for people stationed in Misawa to go through with it.
Mrs. Tran, spoke about her reaction to finding out she would be the first U.S. Navy-affiliated person being naturalized in Misawa, “I could not believe it. I have Navy-affiliated friends who went through this too but this time it is in Misawa. I was overwhelmed at first, but I am thankful that people can do this here and not have to take leave or travel somewhere else to do it.”
After finishing the process, the relief some people feel knowing they are now American citizens, have job security, or just be able to more easily stay with their family can be overwhelming.
“Just knowing how long it has taken us to get from beginning to end, and now we are finally here, it’s nice. It’s nice knowing everything worked out,” said Mr. Tran.
For more news from Naval Air Facility Misawa, visit:
https://www.cnic.navy.mil/regions/cnrj/installations/naf_misawa.html
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nafmisawa
DVIDS: https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/NAF-M
| Date Taken: | 04.28.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 05.06.2022 08:49 |
| Story ID: | 420111 |
| Location: | AOMORI, JP |
| Web Views: | 58 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, First U.S. Navy-Affiliated Naturalization at Misawa Air Base, by PO2 Benjamin Ringers, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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