Changes To The U.S. Citizenship Test

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced that it would be updating the naturalization civics test for the first time since 2008. The test, taken by U.S. citizenship applicants, will now be expanded, with additional questions and topics being part of the exam.

The civics test, which assesses an applicant’s knowledge of U.S. history and government, is given orally during the naturalization interview, one of the final stages of the citizenship process.

The new test will be given to applicants who applied for citizenship after December 1, 2020.

What Is Changing?

The new test will be longer, comprising 128 questions, compared to 100 in the current test. Citizenship applicants are asked up to 10 questions during their naturalization interview and have to answer 6 correctly to obtain a pass. The updated test will increase to 20 questions, and applicants will need to answer 12 correctly. Interviewing officers will also be required to ask all 20 questions, instead of stopping once the applicant scores enough to pass.

Once President-Elect Biden takes office, he may revert to the old, less cumbersome test.

For further information or questions you may have  please do not hesitate to contact The Law Offices of Michael H. Markovitch.