Citizenship for elderly mother

[Gomezant 4]

Hello,

 

Wondering if I could get some advice about this.

 

My mother is 77 years old. She's been a US legal resident for almost 50 years, with a green card. She's never been in trouble with the law in ANY way. 

 

Her wish now is to become a US Citizen. My father is a US Citizen and has been for a long time. I believe the reason she never attempted is due to her lack of education and therefore, lack of confidence to take and pass the test.

 

She is in mental decline now. We cannot find her a psychiatric doctor in our area due to insurance. The reason I mention this is that I know that if I could get a psychiatrist to fill out some USCIS paperwork, she would get a waiver on having to take the test. But I cannot. She does have a regular doctor, though.

 

In this situation, how can I apply for my mother's US Citizenship and somehow get a test waiver for her? Could I write a letter with the application stating her situation?

 

Or, is she at an age where they might just waive the test anyway?

 

Any advice appreciated.

 

Thank you

 

 

[SteveInBostonI130 3,467]

The only exception to the language and civics requirement that I know of is for medical or disabilities.

 

A doctor or phycologist needs to fill out an N648.

Edited April 13, 2023 by SteveInBostonI130

[Family 4,025]

11 minutes ago, Gomezant said:

regular doctor, though

Regular doctor can fill it out as long as diagnosis is a qualifying DSM cognitive impairment condition .

 

Your letter will have zero impact.

[Boiler 45,670]

Is there a particular reason she wants to do it now?

[OldUser 6,889]

She can get English language exemption based on her being over 55 and living in the US over 15 years.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/exceptions-and-accommodations

 

She would still need to do civics test in her native language or have a doctor providing solid documented reasons why she cannot do the civics.

[Mike E 11,740]

30 minutes ago, Gomezant said:

My mother is 77 years old. She's been a US legal resident for almost 50 years, with a green card

She is exempt from the english test.

 

She is exempt from the full civics test. She just has to memorize the 20 answers to the simplified test and grt 6 of 10 right.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/questions-and-answers/OoC_65-20_Questions _2008_Civics_Test_V1.pdf
 

[OldUser 6,889]

2 minutes ago, Mike E said:

She is exempt from the english test.

 

She is exempt from the full civics test. She just has to memorize the 20 answers to the simplified test and grt 6 of 10 right.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/questions-and-answers/OoC_65-20_Questions _2008_Civics_Test_V1.pdf
 

That's good to know, @Mike E!

 

@Gomezant do you think memorizing 20 answers in native language will be a challenge? You or somebody else can prepare her over the course of few months. Even audio record questions and answers to play for her on repeat.

[Boiler 45,670]

She has been here 50 years no mention of having any difficulty speaking.

[Mike E 11,740]

15 minutes ago, OldUser said:

That's good to know, @Mike E!

 

@Gomezant do you think memorizing 20 answers in native language will be a challenge? You or somebody else can prepare her over the course of few months. Even audio record questions and answers to play for her on repeat.

Most are 1-2 word answers. 

[OldUser 6,889]

12 minutes ago, Boiler said:

She has been here 50 years no mention of having any difficulty speaking.

The English language test entails writing though...

 

51 minutes ago, Gomezant said:

I believe the reason she never attempted is due to her lack of education and therefore, lack of confidence to take and pass the test.

I don't see a reason to sign up for English test if she can easily avoid it based on age.

 

But another good question is: does she really need to become a citizen at this point? What benefits would it bring her or her relatives?

[Timona 4,207]

There's more to this story. 

 

As much as I sympthaize, lack of education doesn't shy someone away from multiple choice test of which answers have already been provided....for 50 years!!

 

Those test need no education. All you need to do is memorize. She could have set aside 1 month, 40 years ago and memorized them. It's just like remembering all your addresses, bank information etc. 20/ 100 of those questions need no memorization but current events eg who's the VP, President, your representative, how many US senetors. I'm sure the number of senators hasn't changed from 100, she knows who the president is etc.

 

Additionally, husband upon naturalization, could have told her how easy it was. Something amiss here

Edited April 14, 2023 by Timona

[Sarge2155 4,590]

9 hours ago, Timona said:

There's more to this story. 

 

As much as I sympthaize, lack of education doesn't shy someone away from multiple choice test of which answers have already been provided....for 50 years!!

 

Those test need no education. All you need to do is memorize. She could have set aside 1 month, 40 years ago and memorized them. It's just like remembering all your addresses, bank information etc. 20/ 100 of those questions need no memorization but current events eg who's the VP, President, your representative, how many US senetors. I'm sure the number of senators hasn't changed from 100, she knows who the president is etc.

 

Additionally, husband upon naturalization, could have told her how easy it was. Something amiss here

Your response is at the least callused, you have no idea what this family can or can't do. The OP asked for advise not speculation!

[BasmaHicham 34]

12 hours ago, Timona said:

There's more to this story. 

 

As much as I sympthaize, lack of education doesn't shy someone away from multiple choice test of which answers have already been provided....for 50 years!!

 

Those test need no education. All you need to do is memorize. She could have set aside 1 month, 40 years ago and memorized them. It's just like remembering all your addresses, bank information etc. 20/ 100 of those questions need no memorization but current events eg who's the VP, President, your representative, how many US senetors. I'm sure the number of senators hasn't changed from 100, she knows who the president is etc.

 

Additionally, husband upon naturalization, could have told her how easy it was. Something amiss here

It is not as easy as you think. my mom is younger (59 years old) and can not naturalize because of the same reasons. 

[Timona 4,207]

4 hours ago, Sarge2155 said:

Your response is at the least callused, you have no idea what this family can or can't do. The OP asked for advise not speculation!

 

Why prepare for a fight against a cat, yet in reality you will be facing a lion??

 

My sentiments still stand. There's more to this story. I'm sure lawyers et al have been visited/ consulted during this time. So, there's a specific reason why she hasn't naturalized all this while, even when the husband did. So, unless OP lays it all bare, our "positive/ what they wanna hear" replies are just two puffs of warm air in the polar region. Additionally, N400 preparations are offered in multiple languages. Someone had already asked if OP mom can speak. 

 

We should stop selling fake positives to people. People come here for advise to fix a situation. Some lay it all out, others do 50/50 and we have to connect the dots ourselves. So, when something doesn't make sense, we have the right to question because at the end of the day, our positive replies are useless if there's more to the story. Couldn't she have naturalized at 65 using our "postive" replies? Why didn't she? Heck, she can even take our positive replies and go try and naturalize today. The results would be the same. Then OP will say we in VJ lied to them.

 

VJ isn't about comforting people. We endeavor to help and it's easier to help when all is laid bare. 

 

I'll be Mike-E-ing at this point. 

[Timona 4,207]

58 minutes ago, BasmaHicham said:

It is not as easy as you think. my mom is younger (59 years old) and can not naturalize because of the same reasons. 

 

N400 is offered in multiple languages. Visit USCIS page. I'm 100% sure I sent one in Amharic to my friend's wife who never went to school and has since naturalized. That was 2 years ago. 

 

She's since learnt English via YouTube. She can converse now, but not deep. But atleast we can hold a conversation. She came to US in 2018