How to become citizen for a 70 yr woman who doesnt speak english?

[WaterLily 14]

where she been before arrived into US for 55 years can she speak other language like indian ... and why does she needs an american citizenship at the age of 75!!!!

She can speak just few words in hindi,thats about it. Indian govt has given a land on lease to the Tibetan refugees, where they all live in one colony. My Aunt has lived inside the colony till she moved here.

[WaterLily 14]

The issue is not her limited knowledge of language, but her limited knowledge of reading and writing? She keeps failing the exam because she may not be able to comprehend the material.

OP,

At her age maybe it is best she remains an LPR. A lot of people migrate elderly and do not understand the difficulty of them to adjust.

I previously inquired about if she can comprehend the information. If so, then teach her the civil exam information until she is knowledgeable of the content. During the exam an interpreter will interpret the questions for her word for word.

She will not be sent back because she is not a citizen. She can continue living in the US as an LPR. She can even travel using her GC. The point is if it is a struggle for her to take the exam then maybe you can just skip it altogether.

Reading material, someone has to translate it for her in Tibetan for her to understand it.We will try using an interpreter if that doesn't help then she will continue living as an LPR for the rest of her life. Thanks

[WaterLily 14]

Who cares why? About 20% of naturalized citizens are aged 55 or over, 9% are 65 or over at the time they were naturalized. She is still young compared to this new citizen https://www.dhs.gov/blog/2015/08/24/centenarian-and-new-us-citizen .

A reason could very well be being able to travel back home country for long months without risking residency or maybe now that she has the time she wants to travel the world without having to deal with tourist visas or maybe she wants to vote in the upcoming election. Who cares why?

You are partially true. She needs US passport for her to travel out of the country. But not for long stay. A month or two at the most.

Thank you for sharing the link. My Aunt is very grateful for all that USA has done for her son and for herself.

[WaterLily 14]

I saw someone in a very similar situation get citizenship for the welfare, which isn't available to all LPRs in every state.....

This is interesting. She does have health insurance and by God's grace she is in a great health because of all the manual labour she used to do. She eats well and exercises.For her age shes quite healthy.

[lkerky 25]

I am sorry if my question has upset you so much but i dont appreciate the tone in your message. You dont have to be rude and ask why is she here if she cant speak English. Who are you to question?

You do not understand her situation and what shes gone through. I am pretty sure the world you and she have lived, are like the sky and the ground.I know how frustrating it is and how much of a struggle it is for a person born with no country as your own. Been tagged a REFUGEE wherever you go. Her life has been a struggle for years. They used to live in a village in India,close to a forest,where there is still no proper access to drinking water. People there go to nearby ponds to fetch water and carry water cans on their back for daily use. About electricity, the govt there supply electricity only for 5-6 hours daily and it depends on when they want to cut if off. They obviously pay the bills.There are times when you have no electricity for a week continuously. There are no proper health facilities there and access is limited. Many people have died because they couldn't reach the hospital on time, lot of people have died due to snake bites and killed by elephants too,when they come of the forest to look for food into the village, some of them could have been saved if they can reach the hospital on time. Since they are refugees there,their concerns are not a priority to the govt. Please note this doesn't mean that we are not thankful to the Indian govt for at least giving us a shelter to live.In a situation like this, my cousin could never think about leaving my Aunt back where she came from.

We have tried it before, for someone who can only talk in 1 language and not know how to read and write in any languages at all, how difficult it would be for that person to learn at that age. You have no idea. how frustrating it is for her , we have seen it. She doesn't know the language but it doesn't mean that she doesn't know a thing about American history and politics. She understands it when you tell her as a story. But she is very bad in pronouncing English words, we dont get it so i doubt the non Tibetans would understand her, That is why we are looking for an interpreter so that she can at least give it a try.If that doesn't help then obviously we cant do much.

Going by your message,it sounds like since she cant speak English it would be better for my cousin to send my Aunt back to where she came from. Even though her only child, is here,her son. But sorry in our culture, we don't give up on our parents when they are old and need to be looked after.

#crushedit!

Edited May 13, 2016 by lmihler

[JimmyHou 611]

English is not the official language of the United States. That is a fact. No law requires residents or citizens to learn English. The law does require certain applicants for naturalization to pass an English test, but that does not apply to this woman. No law requires assimilation. This woman has done nothing wrong and is fully within her right to apply for naturalization regardless of her reason for doing so.

Many countries requires immigrants to learn an official language... the US is not one of these because it has no official language. Of course an immigrant should learn English. Of course they can contribute more to society if they do learn English. But US immigration policy recognizes that there is a benefit to exempting certain people from these requirements. This policy sees value in reuniting younger immigrants with elderly parents even if those parents aren't going to be able to assimilate or contribute to the economy directly.

This woman has probably been through things that the rest of us only see in nightmares... her very presence in this country is a symbol of the strength of people's desire for freedom and survival. Just by sitting at home and being with her family she probably does more for this country than I ever will.

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

where she been before arrived into US for 55 years can she speak other language like indian ... and why does she needs an american citizenship at the age of 75!!!!

You realize there is no language called "Indian", right? The majority language spoken in India is Hindi.

The amount of judgement in this thread is just ridiculous. Because this women has trouble speaking English, it's only natural that she wants to become a citizen for questionable purposes? Really? There is no evidence that this poor 70 year old woman has ever done anything wrong in her entire life but sure let's judge her as a person of questionable character or someone who just wants welfare simply because she, at 55 years old with what seems like a very a turbulent life and limited educational background, isn't speaking English at a level that you personally deem appropriate.

I really escapes me how up in arms people can get about a stranger's ability to learn a language or not. How much does it actually effect you? Having to press 1 for English for some call centers?

[EmilyW 1,390]

A lot of judgment flying both ways, really.

[Boiler 45,230]

Some people are good at languages, sadly I am not.

Can not imagine being anywhere for that long and not picking up the basics, obviously in my case speaking English was an advantage but I must have added 100 words to my vocabulary that are particular to American.

Even a weekend overseas trip I would always try to get a few words in my head.

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

A lot of judgment flying both ways, really.

Really? How exactly do you figure?

[Transborderwife 4,666]

She's been here 15 years and knows only one or two English words? So much for assimilation. This is exactly what upsets Americans, integrated immigrants, and politicians - the failure to assimilate. Learn our language - or at least try. She was 55 when she came here - that's not old. And she can't speak a lick of English. Why is she here? Obviously not interested in becoming American, but wants to be a citizen. I can't imagine trying to become a citizen of another country without being able to speak more than one or two words of the host country. The USA citizenship test will soon be in English only.

There is no official language of the United States. She's not required to learn anything.

[ryna 132]

A lot of judgment flying both ways, really.

Really? How exactly do you figure?

Yeah, how?

[Ontarkie 14,179]

~~Judgmental post along with some noncontributing posts removed. Stick to answering the the questions asked.~~

[Transborderwife 4,666]

In defence of the OP, my 90 year old grandmother was asked a couple of years back when she was renewing her greencard by a USCIS worker why she didn't become a citizen. She's been living here since the 70s. Her answer was "young man, that's none of your business." ?

[abhi_meli 150]

She is a Buddhist. I dont know if you are aware of it, there is a place in Bihar,India where Lord Buddha was born, it is a holy place for all the Buddhist.Every year, the monks, nuns and all the spiritual heads including His Holiness Dalai Lama and His Holiness Karmapa, gives teachings and they have month long prayer ceremonies conducted there. As she is getting older, she fears for death and she wants to do more prayers.She also wishes to get blessings from the holy monks in India and this is also like her vacation time for her. Right now, she doesn't have any documents to fly out of the country. She has no passport. Well actually for the Tibetan refugees, they never have any passports. India had issued a document called Identity certificate which Tibetans use as a passport to travel but her Identity certificate expired few years back. India will not renew her document now, since shes been living here for years and i believe they are not interested in taking a refugee back to their country. Not that she is going to live in India. So shes stuck. US passport would help her with her travel.

Ohk! I will pray for her to get her PASSPORT asap.BTW Lord Buddha was born in LUMBINI,NEPAL not in INDIA.