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Saint Paul (United States): The US citizenship test is being updated, and some immigrants and advocates fear the changes will hurt test takers with low levels of English proficiency.
The naturalization test is one of the final steps towards citizenship – a process that takes months and requires legal Permanent residence for years before applying.
Many are still distraught after former Republican President Donald Trump’s administration changed the test in 2020, making it longer and more difficult to pass. Within months, Democratic President Joe Biden took office and signed an executive order aimed at removing barriers to citizenship. In this spirit, the citizenship test has been changed to its previous version, which was last updated in 2008.
In December, US authorities said the test was due to be updated after 15 years. The new release is expected late next year.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services It is suggested that the new test add a speaking section to assess English skills. The officer might show pictures of ordinary scenarios—such as daily activities, weather, or food—and ask the applicant to verbally describe the pictures.
In the current test, the officer assesses the ability to speak during a naturalization interview by asking personal questions that the applicant has already answered in the naturalization papers. Another proposed change would make the Civics section on United States History and Government a multiple choice instead of the current oral short answers format.
A current civics question asks the officer to ask the applicant to name a war the United States fought in the 20th century. The applicant only needs to say one out of five accepted answers to get the question correct. But in the proposed multiple choice format, the applicant will read this question and choose the correct answer from the following options. Currently, the applicant must answer six out of 10 civics questions correctly to pass. AP
The naturalization test is one of the final steps towards citizenship – a process that takes months and requires legal Permanent residence for years before applying.
Many are still distraught after former Republican President Donald Trump’s administration changed the test in 2020, making it longer and more difficult to pass. Within months, Democratic President Joe Biden took office and signed an executive order aimed at removing barriers to citizenship. In this spirit, the citizenship test has been changed to its previous version, which was last updated in 2008.
In December, US authorities said the test was due to be updated after 15 years. The new release is expected late next year.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services It is suggested that the new test add a speaking section to assess English skills. The officer might show pictures of ordinary scenarios—such as daily activities, weather, or food—and ask the applicant to verbally describe the pictures.
In the current test, the officer assesses the ability to speak during a naturalization interview by asking personal questions that the applicant has already answered in the naturalization papers. Another proposed change would make the Civics section on United States History and Government a multiple choice instead of the current oral short answers format.
A current civics question asks the officer to ask the applicant to name a war the United States fought in the 20th century. The applicant only needs to say one out of five accepted answers to get the question correct. But in the proposed multiple choice format, the applicant will read this question and choose the correct answer from the following options. Currently, the applicant must answer six out of 10 civics questions correctly to pass. AP
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