The US citizenship test is being updated, and some immigrants and activists fear the changes will hurt test takers with lower levels of English proficiency.
The naturalization test is one of the final steps toward citizenship, a months-long process that requires lawful permanent residence for years before applying.
Many are still in shock after the administration of former Republican President Donald Trump changed the test in 2020, making it longer and harder to pass.
Within months, Democratic President Joe Biden took office and signed an executive order aimed at removing barriers to citizenship. In that spirit, the citizenship test was moved to its previous version, which was last updated in 2008.
In December, US authorities said the test needed to be updated after 15 years. The new version is expected by the end of next year.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) proposes that the new test add an oral section to assess English skills.
An officer would show photos of common scenarios, such as daily activities, weather, or food, and ask the applicant to verbally describe the photos.
Another proposed change would make the civics section on US history and government multiple-choice instead of the current short-answer oral format.
A current civics question has an officer ask the applicant to name a war the United States fought in the 20th century. The applicant only needs to say one of five acceptable responses (World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, or Gulf War) to correctly answer the question.
But in the proposed multiple choice format, the applicant would read that 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 applicant must know the five wars the United States fought in the 20th century to select the single correct answer,” said Bill Bliss, author of a book on citizenship, and that requires a “significantly higher level of language proficiency and ability to to take exams.”
Currently, the applicant must correctly answer six out of 10 civics questions to pass. Those 10 questions are selected from a bank of 100 civics questions. The applicant is not told which questions will be selected, but can view and study all 100 questions before taking the exam.
USCIS said in a December announcement that the proposed changes “reflect current best practices in test design” and would help standardize the citizenship test.
Under federal law, most applicants for citizenship must demonstrate an understanding of the English language, including the ability to speak, read, and write commonly used words, and demonstrate knowledge of United States history and government.
The agency said it will conduct a nationwide test of the proposed changes in 2023 with opportunities for public comment.
An outside group of experts, in the fields of language acquisition, civics and test development, will then review the test results and recommend ways to better implement the proposed changes, which could go into effect late next year.
The proposed multiple-choice format for the civics section would put the answer to each question in front of applicants and remove the memory challenge found on the current test.
More than 1 million people became U.S. citizens in fiscal year 2022, one of the highest numbers on record since 1907, the first year for which data is available, and USCIS reduced the huge backlog of naturalization applications by more than 60% in compared to the previous year, according to a USCIS report also released in December.
