U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced efforts to redesign the naturalization test have ended. In their federal register announcement, USCIS cited comments finding the redesigned test made it harder for applicants. The redesign plan, announced in 2022, was in response to suggested changes by subject matter experts. The goal was to find an efficient way to reduce barriers to taking the naturalization test.
There are two parts to the naturalization test: an English test evaluating an applicant’s reading, writing, and speaking comprehension, and a civics test to determine the individual’s knowledge of the U.S. The proposed changes included:
Speaking portion: Applicants would have been asked to describe three color images of everyday life. In the current and ongoing application, the immigration officer asks the applicant about their eligibility and citizenship application to assess their ability to speak English.
Civics test: Applicants would have been given ten multiple-choice questions via a computer table and asked to choose the best answer from four choices. The current and ongoing process requires the immigration officer to read these questions aloud. To pass, applicants must get a minimum of 6 of the 10 questions correct.
Over 1,300 public comments were received by USCIS regarding the naturalization test redesign. The majority of the comments opposed the changes. For the English proficiency portion, commenters felt the change did not assess real-world application versus the current conversational testing. For the civics portion, commenters felt it created additional hurdles for reading comprehension and vocabulary versus the current process, among others.USCIS will continue to use the current naturalization test, implemented in 2008.
If you have questions about naturalization or any other U.S. immigration related issue, contact us at ILBSG. Our clients work directly with attorneys to ensure they get the right advice for their particular situations.
