The U.S. citizenship test is just one step in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen by naturalization. It is also one of the more well-known facets, often displayed in the media.
The exam consists of an English assessment aimed at evaluating the applicant’s proficiency in the following:
- read
- write
- speak English
It also retains a civics assessment, the more familiar part of the exams. This assessment has a set of questions that future citizens must answer to gain citizenship officially.
However, one thing to notice is that the U.S. citizenship test has changed over time. Now, it is more complex and longer. Let’s have a brief idea of its history and then apprehend the changes ensuing with time.
History
– 1917: The Immigration Act of 1917 required immigrants over 16 to pass a literacy test to demonstrate basic reading comprehension.
– 2020: The Trump administration made the test more difficult by adding more questions, some with complex phrasing.
– 2022: USCIS announced plans to test a new version of the test but later scrapped the plans.
Current Examination Procedure
The test covers important U.S. history and government topics. Applicants get two attempts to pass the exam: the first test and the second interview. During the naturalization interview, they need to answer correctly 6 out of 10 questions from a set of 100 questions. USCIS rejects naturalization applications for applicants who do not succeed in any part of the tests after two tries. The exam has become more challenging, with some questions having complicated wording.
Origins of the Citizenship Test
Before 1906, citizenship was fully in the court’s control. At that time, the citizenship assessment was primarily verbal and only governed by local naturalization rules, so the exam had no central oversight. Some naturalized citizens were never even questioned about civic knowledge.
Then, in 1906, the Bureau of Naturalization, now known as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), started standardizing the naturalization procedure. It created a learning program to educate immigrants about history and civic duties but has not yet standardized the questions or testing methods.
In the 1930s, tricky questions were banned, and the range of material was greatly downsized. In the 1950s, the civics section of the exam became a required part of the naturalization process.
According to CNN, the civics exam and the reading and writing parts of the English exam were regularized in 2008.
Nonetheless, in 2020, the Trump administration altered the civics test under the rubric of its immigration crackdown, increasing the number of likely questions to 128. This move increased the number of questions posed to 20 and demanded 12 correct answers for passing.
President Biden then reverted to the 2008 test when he became president in 2021. Currently, the speaking portion of the naturalization test is still not standardized, so it can differ based on who gives the test. Due to this, Biden is going to reassess the citizenship test for 2023.
In conclusion to the whole discussion, the history of the U.S. citizenship test reflects wider developments in immigration policy and public attitudes toward naturalization. It has become a more formal and comprehensive test since its origins as a haphazard and localized phenomenon.
Knowing the historical origins and evolution of the citizenship test is imperative to future citizens in their naturalization process. Because policies are forever changing, so too has the significance of the test as the door to U.S. citizenship, a component of the American immigration process.