OVERVIEW
- The applicant is an outstanding Software Engineer, whose exceptional abilities rank him among the top 5% of engineers employed at one of the MAMAA tech giants.
- Applicant received his green card through the EB1B, outstanding professor or researcher pathway in March of 2017.
- Applicant is fully sight impaired and cannot see at all. He was effectively blind at 33 years, with progressive degradation at age 16 onwards. Since Applicant lost his eyesight at a later stage in life, he did not learn the braille system and thus is unable to read braille.
FACTS OF THE CASE
- During the initial consultation with our team, Applicant was informed of the various tests that he will undergo during the Naturalization process including a English reading exam, English writing exam, and Civics exam.
- Although fully literate, Applicant informed our team that while he is able to complete the Civics Exam and Writing Exam, he is unable to complete the English reading exam without an accommodation.
- With the initial filing of form N-400, Application for Naturalization, our team made a request for appropriate accommodations for the Applicant to be able to complete exam components of the application process. As was expected, there was no indication of accommodation approval and we were prepared to follow up directly with the local field office once the case was scheduled for interview. .
- Once scheduled for interview, our team contacted the local USCIS directly via facsimile to inquire about the accommodations available to Applicant.
- After much back and forth with the Section Chief of the local USCIS office, including an inquiry that was sent up to USCIS headquarters, we were able to achieve the following accommodations for Applicant:
- Civics Exam: Since the civics exam is purely oral, Applicant did not need an accommodation for this portion of the exam.
- English Writing Exam: Once Applicant was able to confirm to the Section Chief that he is indeed able to write, Applicant was able handle this portion of the exams without an accommodation. However, the Section Chief did require us to confirm with Applicant that he can indeed write a sentence in English prior to the interview. We faxed this proof to the Section Chief, thus Applicant did not need an accommodation for this portion of the exam.
- English Reading Exam: Due to Applicant’s visual impairment, USCIS approved our accommodation request and allowed the officer to conduct a spelling-bee like oral, English reading exam. The officer asked the Applicant to state the word that was fully spelled out for him. Specifically, the officer spelled out “w-h-o” and the Applicant replied “who”, the officer spelled out “c-a-n” and the applicant replied “can” and finally the officer spelled out “v-o-t-e” and the applicant replied “vote”! This brought the English reading exam to an end and Applicant passed!
- On the day of the interview, Supervising Attorney Anita Koumriqian Piper, appeared with the Applicant. She was able to guide Applicant through the office and ensure that he was well represented and the interview went smoothly.
- At the end of a successful interview, the Officer was able to confirm Applicant’s N-400, Application for Naturalization, was approved and she offered a same day oath ceremony to the Applicant so he did not have to return back to the office another day for the final oath ceremony.
CONCLUSION
With the support of our team and successfully getting Applicant an appropriate accommodation suitable for his disability, Applicant walked into the local San Jose USCIS field office that day a lawful permanent resident, and walked out as a citizen of the United States of America!
- After much back and forth with the Section Chief of the local USCIS office, including an inquiry that was sent up to USCIS headquarters, we were able to achieve the following accommodations for Applicant:
- Civics Exam: Since the civics exam is purely oral, Applicant did not need an accommodation for this portion of the exam.
- English Writing Exam: Once Applicant was able to confirm to the Section Chief that he is indeed able to write, Applicant was able handle this portion of the exams without an accommodation. However, the Section Chief did require us to confirm with Applicant that he can indeed write a sentence in English prior to the interview. We faxed this proof to the Section Chief, thus Applicant did not need an accommodation for this portion of the exam.
- English Reading Exam: Due to Applicant’s visual impairment, USCIS approved our accommodation request and allowed the officer to conduct a spelling-bee like oral, English reading exam. The officer asked the Applicant to state the word that was fully spelled out for him. Specifically, the officer spelled out “w-h-o” and the Applicant replied “who”, the officer spelled out “c-a-n” and the applicant replied “can” and finally the officer spelled out “v-o-t-e” and the applicant replied “vote”! This brought the English reading exam to an end and Applicant passed!
- On the day of the interview, Supervising Attorney Anita Koumriqian Piper, appeared with the Applicant. She was able to guide Applicant through the office and ensure that he was well represented and the interview went smoothly.
- At the end of a successful interview, the Officer was able to confirm Applicant’s N-400, Application for Naturalization, was approved and she offered a same day oath ceremony to the Applicant so he did not have to return back to the office another day for the final oath ceremony.
