To get U.S. citizenship through the process known as naturalization, most everyone has to take an oath of allegiance to the United States. If you know someone who applied for U.S. citizenship but who is unable to understand or to communicate an understanding of the oath because of a physical or developmental disability or mental impairment, this article tells you how to get U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to give that person citizenship without an oath.
When an applicant is unable to take the oath of allegiance (or complete any other part of the citizenship application process) because of a physical or developmental disability or mental impairment, a legal guardian, surrogate, or an eligible designated representative is allowed to help. If all goes well, USCIS will waive the oath requirement and let the legal guardian, surrogate, or designated representative act in place of the applicant.
USCIS prefers that a legal guardian or surrogate be the one to act in place of the applicant. This is a person who a proper court has designated as the applicant’s legal guardian or surrogate and who is authorized to exercise legal authority over the applicant’s affairs.
If there is no legal guardian or surrogate, USCIS will allow help from a primary custodial caregiver who takes responsibility for the applicant. A U.S. citizen spouse is preferred.
If the applicant is not married to a U.S. citizen, then, in order of preference, USCIS will allow help from a U.S. citizen parent, a U.S. citizen adult son or daughter, or a U.S. citizen adult brother or sister. If both parents or more than one child or sibling want to represent the applicant, USCIS will probably choose the oldest one.
If there is no U.S. citizen family member who can be the designated representative, you will have to get a court to appoint a guardian or surrogate.
If the applicant won’t be able to take the oath, he or she probably won’t be able to sign the naturalization application at the interview or take the language and/or civics tests. You probably need to request an accommodation for those parts of the process before the interview, in which case you should request the oath waiver at the same time. (The evidence supporting your requests will be similar.) However, USCIS will accept a request for an oath waiver at any time during the process.
Here are the steps to take when preparing to ask USCIS for an oath waiver.
You will need to give USCIS proof of the applicant’s disability or impairment. USCIS wants to see a written evaluation made and signed by a medical professional who is licensed to practice in the United States.
You should not go shopping for a doctor at this point. USCIS wants the evaluation to come from the medical professional who has had the longest relationship with the applicant or who is most familiar with the applicant’s medical history. To avoid the possibility that USCIS will reject the evaluation, ask the medical professional to state in the evaluation how long he or she has been treating the applicant. If it has not been very long, you should explain to USCIS why you chose this particular medical professional to write the evaluation.
When writing the evaluation, the medical professional should express the applicant’s medical condition and disability in terms that a USCIS officer and you can understand. It’s okay for the medical professional to use medical definitions or terms to describe the disability or impairment. The evaluation should state why and how the applicant is unable to understand or communicate an understanding of the meaning of the oath of allegiance, and indicate the likelihood of the applicant being able to communicate or demonstrate an understanding of the meaning of the oath of allegiance in the near future.
Remind the medical professional to sign the evaluation and include his or her state license number.
Fortunately, USCIS does not require the evaluation to contain an explanation of how the medical professional reached his or her diagnosis, a listing of clinical or laboratory techniques used to reach the diagnosis, or supporting documentation to establish the claimed disability or impairment.
Write Your Request Letter to USCIS
There is no official form to request an oath waiver. However, you must ask USCIS for an oath waiver in writing. No special words are needed; just say “I, [your name], request that USCIS waive the oath of allegiance requirement for [name of applicant].” Make sure you sign and date your request.
Gather Proof That You’re Eligible to Represent the Applicant
Along with the medical evaluation and request letter, you must provide proof of legal guardianship, or documentation to establish your relationship to the applicant, such as your birth certificate, marriage certificate, or adoption decree.
In addition, you must provide documentation to establish that you have the primary custodial care and responsibility for the applicant. Examples would be income tax returns, Social Security Administration documents, or affidavits from other relatives.
A spouse, parent, adult son or daughter, or adult brother or sister who is not the legal guardian or surrogate must also provide evidence of U.S. citizenship.
Your request letter, medical evaluation, and other proof can be mailed to USCIS with the N-400 application for naturalization, or mailed to the USCIS office that will conduct the interview once you have the interview date.
You can bring the documents to the interview, but this may cause the interview to be rescheduled to give USCIS time to verify them.
