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WASHINGTON – Lawful permanent residents of the United States on the path to naturalization will now have to take a longer and more complex citizenship test.
The new civics test is taken from 128 questions candidates must be prepared to answer about US history and government, up from 100 previously. Anyone applying for naturalization in the United States after December 1, 2020 must take the new version.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a federal agency of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the country’s naturalization and immigration system, announced in 2019 that it was improving the civic naturalization test for first time since 2008. official move last week.
“Updating, maintaining and improving a test that is current and relevant is our responsibility as an agency to help potential new citizens fully understand the meaning of American citizenship and the values that unite all Americans.” Ken Cuccinelli, then in office as interim director of USCIS, said in a statement.
Applicants must correctly answer 12 out of 20 questions to be successful instead of the previous six out of 10.
“But you have 20 questions,” said Nancy Newton, director of the citizen readiness program at Montgomery College, a public community college in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Passing the naturalization test is the final requirement for lawful permanent residents, also known as green card holders, to become U.S. citizens. The test is given orally during the naturalization interview, one of the last steps in the citizenship process.
Newton told VOA the new test would require better English proficiency, moving from a high level English level to a high intermediate level.
With the help of a grant from DHS and a partnership with local nonprofits, the Citizen Readiness Program helps approximately 300 lawful permanent residents each year. Legal permanent residents eligible for naturalization spend months studying for the citizenship test.
“What we need to make sure is that our learners know exactly what is expected of them. And that we prepare them as best we can, ”Newton said.
What’s up?
While doubling the number of test questions, USCIS said the pass mark will remain at 60%. Although many questions have not changed, some have been rephrased and others will require further explanation in the answers.
The first test asked, “There were 13 original states, name three”. The revised version says: “There were 13 original states. Name five. “
Instead of “What are the two rights of everyone living in the United States?”, An applicant should answer, “What are the three rights of everyone living in the United States?”
Some immigrant advocates have criticized the test, saying some questions have been made more difficult without proof that it is necessary.
The questions also took a “subtle political stance,” wrote Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy adviser to the American Immigration Council.
“One issue in particular raises concerns of politicization. On the old test, candidates could be asked “Who represents a US Senator?” The suggested answer was “all residents of the state”. Regarding the new test, the suggested answer is “citizens of their state”. “Reichlin-Melnick wrote, adding” This is not correct. Members of Congress represent all who live in their district, regardless of their citizenship status. It has been so since the founding of the nation.
It is not known whether President-elect Joe Biden will reverse the changes to the civic education test.
A 2018 National Woodrow Wilson Scholarship Foundation found that only one in three US-born citizens would pass the test.
USCIS said it finalized the test with help from community organizations and volunteers across the country in the summer of 2020.
“The data collected from this pilot was used to help USCIS determine the language and grammatical structure of individual test items,” the agency said.
Montgomery College was part of the pilot program, and Newton said applicants agreed that the wording of the questions was different, but “it wasn’t something that was completely foreign to them in terms of English proficiency. .
“Although we may think the new test is more difficult than the current test, our learners are immigrants [and] have gone through so much to get to this point. There are so many things to do before you even apply to become a citizen. We’re going to get through this. We are going to live this together as a community, ”said Newton.
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