The U.S. Citizenship Test Just Got Harder. Would You Pass? ▬ LAist

The U.S. Citizenship Test Just Got Harder. Would You Pass?

U S Citizenship Test

LAist: 12.02.2020 by Gina Pollack 

Is there a better, more appropriate way to end 2020 than by making the U.S. naturalization test just a little more punishing?

That's what the Trump Administration did last month, when U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it was revising the civics portion of the test to add 28 more potential questions — questions that are slightly more subjective, and therefore more difficult to answer, than before.

Those questions went into effect Tuesday, Dec. 1.

U S Citizenship Test

Here's how it works: Applicants are given a list of 128 potential questions in advance. When they sit down for the test, a USCIS officer will ask them 20 questions from that list. The whole process is verbal — no multiple choice, no writing down your answers. You need to get 12 answers right to pass.

How is that different than before? The old version of the test had 100 potential questions — meaning 28 fewer flashcards to study. The officer would ask 10 questions and you'd have to get six right to pass.

"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," said Rosalind Gold, Chief Public Policy Officer for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, an L.A.-based non-profit that works on immigration and naturalization issues.

The questions are also more slightly more subjective than before. It's subtle, but makes a difference. For example, one of the new questions is:

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Here's the question:
Who does a U.S. Senator represent?

If you're thinking the answer is "the people in their state" or "all of the people in their state," you'd be right ... on the previous version of the test.

If you gave that answer today, you'd get the question wrong (!!).

That's because the Trump Administration changed the correct answer to "citizens of their state," which, Gold from NALEO says, is factually incorrect.

"Senators represent everyone in the state, not just citizens," she told LAist.  READ MORE ➤➤

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