The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have added 28 difficult questions to its naturalization test revising its civics portion. And that certainly is not good news for aspiring Americans. The Trump administration last month announced this revision in the test adding questions that will be more subjective and hence the difficulty has upped. The changes have already come into effect starting from December 1.
How Does U.S. Citizenship Test Works?
The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) naturalization test includes a list of 128 potential questions. Out of these, the USCIS officer asks the applicants 20 questions during the test. With no multiple choices and writing down answers, the overall test is a test of your confidence and the way you process the answers verbally. To qualify for the test the applicant must get at least 12 answers right.
Earlier the list of questions for the test included 100 questions and the applicants were asked only 10 questions out of them. Getting six right ensured that they pass the naturalization test. Now the test includes 128 tests and the number of questions asked and required to qualify has also been doubled.
High Difficulty Level Is Going To Be a Big Challenge For Aspiring Americans
According to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund’s Chief Public Officer, Rosalind Gold, “The new test increases the number of questions that applicants must study from 100 to 128, it doubles the number of questions they must answer correctly to pass the test, and it requires a much higher level of English language fluency to pass.” The officer of the LA-based non-profit organization working on naturalization and immigration issues further added that the questions are more subtle and subjective which is why their difficulty level is much higher.
Luckily, those who have filed for the naturalization test before December 1 will have to take the older 2008 U.S. Citizenship Test. But those filing for it on or before December 1 will have to take the new test with 128 potential questions. Interestingly the questions that are a part of this civics portion of the naturalization test are not what even every native American will know about. And that is why things are going to be difficult for aspiring Americans.