The grant which came as a private bill passed by the US Congress this month is the first of its kind in two years and was signed by the President of the United States, Barrack Obama.
Chukwuemeka who is a graduate of the University of Michigan had planned to attend the Ohio Medical school which required a permanent residency also known as a green card.
The act is classed as rare as the bill was signed two days ago. In a rare act, the United States Congress passed a private bill last week granting Chukwueke permanent residency after years of his living in Michigan on an expired visa
Before coming to the United States at age 15, Chukwueke lived in the southeastern Nigeria town of Ovim. He suffers from neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes massive life-threatening tumors on his face.
Treated as an outcast because of his deformed face, he was depressed and humiliated, he says. His family abandoned him at an orphanage.
He lives with the nuns in Oak Park, Michigan. They have cared for him since he came to the U.S., where he has undergone seven surgeries, including one that left him blind in the right eye.
Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, sponsored the bill, S. 285. The measure passed the Senate in the summer and the House last week.
“Already, his example has enriched Michigan and our nation, but I know that his contributions to our country are only beginning,” Levin said in a statement.
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