Citizenship Tests: An Effort to Discourage the Immigrants to Be Citizens???

Why do people apply for citizenship after they have been suitably settled in a foreign land? People immigrate to look for better life, stable economy and high-quality education for their children. Once they have all the desired things, what is it that inspires them to apply for citizenship?

Is there any insecurity related to immigration? Immigrants indeed have been looking at getting lucky enough to have the citizenship, which tags them as resident of the nation.

With a splurge in the number of applicants for citizenships in various parts of the world, most of the countries have now come up with some or the other kind of tests. But are these tests meant to frighten people? People have started asking this question now and again, especially right since the introduction of different controversial qualifying test. Despite all the criticisms being faced, the Labour party has still decided to continue the test with some changes here and there.

Is the rule and law in the hands of some political parties aiming to overpower public interest? Let us have a look at the scenario in Australia. Statistics shows that the number of immigrants applying for citizenships in Australia has been diving downwards. During the first 3 quarters of last year, the applications for citizenship have reached to the level of 11,000 applications per month whereas it was at peak in September with the numbers touching the 21,000 mark. What is the reason that these numbers are plummeting?

The political parties and the active government have been cruel enough to do this. For instance, the application fee for citizenship in Australia was doubled to $240 in October 2007. The test conducted in most regions and continents has not been designed to ensure the dedication and the intention of the immigrant who is planning to stay in the country, rather it is intended to test out that whether the immigrant possess the country's values along with having knowledge about the society, its history and the responsibilities of citizenship.

Fewer people are now able to pass the citizenship tests. Especially the number of humanitarian immigrants able to pass the test in first or later attempts is reducing. This poses a cause of concern not only for these immigrants, but also for the Government.

The test is an important part of ensuring that immigrants have the capacity to fully participate in the country’s community as citizens and maximize the opportunities available to them in that country. It promotes social cohesion and successful integration into the community. To exemplify, the Australian citizenship test has been designed to assist people, who want to become Australian citizens, gain an understanding of Australia's values, traditions, history and national symbols. However, we should also look that these tests do not over power humanity and should not become a cause of concern for people.

To ensure safe and happy living to people, the government needs to take some quick active measures to modify or amend this test, the way it would do to accommodate any social figure. If the questions posed in a test can be modified for a celebrity, so can’t it be done for an immigrant or not so famous individual? After all, everyone immigrant deserves same social right and commands same respect.