Citizenship Examination Waiver (N-648)

Medical Certification for Disability Exceptions – If you are applying for U.S. citizenship and need to request an exception to the English and civics testing requirements for naturalization because of physical or developmental disability or mental impairment.

In these cases, an individual is requested to be waived from taking the U.S. citizenship examination due to cognitive deficits.
Conditions that can cause cognitive deficits include dementia, traumatic brain injury, learning disabilities, or an intellectual disability.
Individuals can be evaluated to determine if their claims are valid and how their cognitive impairment will impact their ability to take the examination.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

Individuals petitioning for a waiver under DACA can be denied if they have a serious criminal conviction (e.g., domestic violence).
A psychological evaluation can help determine if their actions and behavior were due to a mental disorder, abuse, or other cognitive deficit.

Extreme Psychological Hardship

In an extreme psychological hardship case, a citizen or resident of the United States applies for the immigration waiver because the deportation of a family member will cause undue hardship for themselves or their family. It’s important to remember that deportation will cause hardship to the family (e.g., spouse, children, or parents) rather than the individual who may be deported.

The negative impact of deportation, such as job loss or separation of parents from small children, are considered “typical” hardships in the eyes of the court.

The court considers a hardship “extreme” only if the impact on the family is unusual or beyond what would be generally expected from deportation.
Here are some examples of situations that are considered “extreme”:

• A family member has a major medical issue and can’t safely travel abroad, making it necessary for the individual to remain in the U.S. to care for the family member.
• An individual’s parents are aging and require the person to stay in the U.S. to care for them.
• An individual is the primary breadwinner in the family, and their deportation will cause extreme financial hardship for the family.

The individual’s children are far along in their education in the U.S. and are unable to speak, read, or write in the language of a foreign country. Leaving the U.S. might permanently prevent them from completing their education.

If one parent must leave the U.S., it can cause the child that is left behind to develop separation anxiety. In some cases, young children who lack the emotional maturity to understand why a parent might have to leave the U.S. might also develop a depressive disorder.

If the court finds that there will be extreme or exceptional hardship on the U.S. citizen or resident, the deportation order may be canceled, and legal permanent residence granted.

Political Asylum

In political asylum cases, an individual has been mistreated and abused in their country of origin due to their political beliefs, religious affiliation, ethnic identity, or gender.

In these cases, they seek asylum or safety from their country of origin within the U.S.

It is common for individuals to develop depressive disorders or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the abuse or mistreatment they endured in their country.

A psychological evaluation will establish the mental health consequences of prior abuse or persecution. An assessment will also help determine how the abuse will continue to impact the individual in the future.

T-Visa

A T-Visa can be granted to victims of human trafficking and their immediate families if they agree to assist law enforcement in testifying against their perpetrators.

To be eligible for a T-Visa, an individual must demonstrate that they will endure unusual or severe harm if deported from the U.S.

Unusual or severe harm does not include current or future financial detriment or lack of social and economic opportunities.

Unusual or severe harm can include the following:

• Age and personal circumstances of the T-Visa applicant.
• Serious physical or mental illness of the T-Visa applicant because treatment is not available in their home country.
• High likelihood of re-victimization.
• Reasonable expectation of punishment by the trafficker or related individuals upon return to their country.A psychological evaluation can help highlight the specific hardship issues related to the case. It is also common for individuals to develop depressive disorders or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to their experiences.
• A psychological evaluation will establish the mental health consequences of the physical or sexual abuse they endured while trafficked.

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) provides immigration benefits to men and women who have been physically and mentally abused by their U.S. citizen spouse.

If an individual is undocumented, married to a U.S. citizen, and a victim of domestic abuse, they may be eligible for permanent residency in the U.S.
A psychological evaluation will help establish the psychological impact that verbal, physical, or sexual abuse had on the individual.

U-Visa

A U-Visa may be granted to an undocumented individual living in the U.S. if the individual can demonstrate that they have experienced substantial mental or physical abuse due to being a victim of a serious crime that occurred in the U.S.

Examples of serious crimes include but are not limited to the following: domestic violence, sexual abuse, rape, murder, torture, kidnapping, and stalking.

The individual must also be willing to help law enforcement and provide information that assists with the prosecution of the individual who committed the crime.

It is not uncommon for victims to develop a depressive disorder or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. A psychological evaluation can help establish how the crime mentally impacted an individual.