Community Organization Categories from Which CCHI Accepts Attestations about Language Proficiency in a Language Other Than English (LOTE)

The information provided below applies ONLY to Tier 2-3 Languages.

CCHI accepts community organization attestations about an applicant’s language proficiency in a Language Other Than English (LOTE) only from the types of organizations described below.

The following categories of organizations that work with interpreters have been selected based on the results of the national survey “Language Proficiency for Interpreters” conducted by CCHI in December 2022:

1. Doctors Without Borders (DWB) mission
2. Refugee resettlement agency
3. Cultural heritage organization
4. Ethnic community organization
5. International faith mission

Documentation from other types of organizations is not accepted.

Attestations from a community organization must meet all of the following requirements:

1. The community should be formally organized with a verifiable legal address and explicit contact information (email, phone).
2. The attestation should describe for how long the candidate has been speaking LOTE.
3. The attestation should describe how the candidate acquired LOTE.
4. The attestation should describe in what types of situations the community members who are speakers of LOTE observed the candidate use of LOTE.
5. In your organization, do you have a speaker of the same LOTE who interacted with the candidate? Please provide details.
6. The person signing the attestation must state their role in the organization and disclose their relation to the applicant.

Click here to see a Sample Community Organization Attestation Letter.