The U.S. citizenship test will be updated, and some immigrant advocates fear that the changes will disadvantage candidates with lower levels of English proficiency.
The government of former Republican President Donald Trump changed the test in 2020, making it longer and harder to pass. Democratic President Joe Biden took office and signed an executive order aimed at removing barriers to citizenship. In that spirit, the citizenship test was reverted back to its previous version, which was last updated in 2008.
But last December, U.S. officials stated that the test should be updated after 15 years without changes. The new version is expected by the end of next year.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services propose that the new test add a speaking section to assess candidates’ English skills. In the example provided by the agency, a police officer shows pictures of common scenarios – such as daily activities, weather, or food – and asks the applicant to verbally describe the photos.
In the current test, an officer evaluates the candidate’s speaking ability during the naturalization interview by asking personal questions that the candidate has already answered on the naturalization forms.
Another proposed change would make the civic section on U.S. history and government multiple choice, instead of the current short oral response format.
A current civic question, for example, asks the candidate to name a war fought by the U.S. in the 1900s. The candidate only needs to say one of the five acceptable answers – World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, or Gulf War – to answer the question correctly.
But in the proposed multiple-choice format, the candidate would read this question and select the correct answer from the following options:
A. Civil War
B. Mexican-American War
C. Korean War
D. Spanish-American War
The candidate must know all five wars fought by the U.S. in the 1900s to select the correct answer, and this requires a significantly higher level of language proficiency and skill to take the test.
Currently, the candidate must answer correctly six out of the 10 civic questions to pass. These 10 questions are selected from a bank of 100 civic questions. The candidate is not informed about which questions will be selected, but can see and study the 100 questions before taking the test.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services stated in a December announcement that the proposed changes “reflect current best practices in test design” and would help standardize the citizenship test.
According to federal law, most citizenship applicants must demonstrate understanding of the English language – including the ability to speak, read, and write common words – and demonstrate knowledge of U.S. history and government.
The agency said it will conduct a national test of the proposed changes in 2023 with opportunities for public feedback. Then, an external group of experts – in the fields of language acquisition, civic education, and test development – will review the test results and recommend ways to better implement the proposed changes, which could take effect by the end of next year.
Currently, the U.S. citizenship test is considered easier than those of other Western countries – including Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
More than 1 million people became U.S. citizens in the fiscal year 2022 – one of the highest numbers ever recorded since 1907, the first year with available data – and USCIS reduced the enormous backlog of naturalization applications by more than 60% compared to the previous year, according to a report from USCIS also released in December.
Source: AP