• Board of Immigration Appeals Certified Citizenship and Naturalization Services 20-year-old Jose came to the United States from the Dominican Republic his mother when he was a year old. When he was 8 years old, Jose developed Myasthenia Gravis and at the age of 14 he lost all of his vision. Although he has slowly regained some of his vision, he is considered legally blind. Jose came to the Quintana Center seeking assistance completing his N-400 application to become an American Citizen. When he was told he would need to study the 100 civics questions for the Citizenship exam, he stated that he had already begun studying by listening to YouTube videos. In August of 2022, José went for his interview at USCIS, Lawrence Field Office. The USCIS staff was very accommodating of his condition and Jose passed the exam portion of the process without a problem. The USCIS officer gave José examples of people who are also legally blind and deaf who work for USCIS. She also encouraged him to reach out to the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind. In December of 2022, Jose was sworn in as a new United States Citizen. José’s is planning to go to college and study psychology. He would eventually like to work with troubled youth. The USCIS Form N-648 may provide a disabilty exception to the English and civics testing requirements for naturalization. The N-648 must be completed by a licensed medical professional who will certify, under penalty of perjury, that the applicant's physical or developmental disability or mental impairment prevents the applicant from meeting the English requirement, the civics requirement, or both. LAWRENCE PROSPERA FY’23 ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 13
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