Answering questions is something immigrants to the United States get used to as they go through the process of gaining legal status and accessing benefits such as residency and naturalization. Visa applications and petitions filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are basically long questionnaires. By the time immigrants petition for naturalization to become American citizens, they’ve already answered dozens of questions, mostly of the personal kind, but they still have a few more to go before they’re allowed to take the oath of citizenship.
The Naturalization Test Is Longer Now
One of the final changes to immigration policy made under the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump increased the number of questions green card holders must answer to pass the naturalization test, which focuses on American history and civics. The new study guide for this test is 128 questions long, which is a significant increase from the previous 100 questions that were standard prior to December 1st, 2020.
When legal residents seeking naturalization benefits are called to be interviewed and take the citizenship test, they’re asked 20 of the 128 new questions. The passing grade is achieved by getting at least 12 questions right. In addition to the citizenship test, immigrant petitioners are also expected to pass an English proficiency test that consists of reading and writing one out of three sentences correctly. As for the English language assessment, when they interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, San Diego applicants should know the USCIS interviewers will make a determination of fluency based on the answers related to Form N-400, which is a personal questionnaire.
The New Citizenship Test Is More Difficult
The U.S. citizenship test is often featured on television and radio news segments in which reporters hit the streets to gauge how many questions natural-born Americans are able to answer. For the most part, they don’t do very well. In fact, many of them are surprised to learn that immigrants, even those who served in the U.S. Armed Forces, are expected to know so much to become citizens.
The new citizenship test is more difficult. It’s not just the 28 additional questions, which already make the test longer, but also the highly subjective nature of some of the questions. For example, there are new questions about the life terms served by U.S. Supreme Court justices. Most people would probably say the terms are dictated by law, but the Constitution is vague about the subject. For some reason, the “right” answer provided by USCIS is related to independence of political thought and freedom from influence. American civics professors who have evaluated the new naturalization test aren’t sure about some of the answers.
There Is Help Available
The good news for immigrants is that they can easily access a study guide with all the questions and answers deemed correct by USCIS. Immigration law firms can also guide clients toward community organizations that help foreigners prepare for the test and improve their English language proficiency.
Hiring a highly qualified immigration attorney is one of the best ways to make the immigration process less complicated and stressful. If you need reliable, high-quality legal advice about San Diego immigration issues, reach out to the immigration law experts at KS Visa Law. To schedule an appointment, call us today at 858-874-0711.