US Citizenship Test Changes This 2020 That You Need To Know

By Neil P. First Posted: Nov 23, 2020 04:51 AM EST

(Photo : John Moore/Getty Images)
A Colombian immigrant studies ahead of her citizenship exam at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Last week, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the changes over the citizenship test for people who want to become American citizens.

Anyone who wants to become an American citizen first needs to pass the citizenship test. This test entails some basic questions that will show the applicant's ability to read, speak, and write basic English. Some questions are also about the national government and the country's history.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced last week that they made some changes to the citizenship test.

"With the 2020 version of the civics test, the USCIS officer will ask you to answer 20 out of the 128 civics test questions. You must answer at least 12 questions correctly to pass the 2020 version of the civics test. All questions on the test are asked orally," the agency explained on its website.

Non-passers will be given a second chance

There are no changes to the English portion of the naturalization civics test. Applicants must still demonstrate an understanding of the English language, including the ability to read, write, and speak basic English.

The agency also noted that American citizenship applicants who do not pass the test will have a second chance to do so, according to Breitbart.

"If you fail any part of the civics test at your first interview, you will be retested, only on the portion of the test that you failed, between 60 and 90 days from the date of your initial interview."

This means that if you still fail in the second opportunity, applicants may no longer be allowed to take the test anymore.

However, an immigration activist's website which is run by the American Immigration Council said that the changes in the citizenship test are meant to make it more difficult for the applicants to become American citizens. They said that the total number of questions has increased from 100 to 128.

Changes in the questions

Additionally, applicants will be verbally asked 20 questions and they need to answer at least 12 correctly. This was an increase of six out of ten in the previous citizenship test. They described the test as more challenging and is more likely to prevent some immigrants to become citizens in the country.

Moreover, they also claimed that the changes in the citizenship test will also delay the process of those who have already applied.

It is estimated that there were hundreds of thousands who were waiting in months and some were already in queued for years.

The group also gave some examples on the test that they found troublesome. Here are some of them, according to Breitbart:

While applicants previously may have been asked to identify one of the branches of government, they may now be asked to identify all three branches of government. Applicants who may have been asked to identify three of the original 13 states may now be asked to identify five of the original 13 states.
The old test asked, "What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?" The new test asks, "What does the Bill of Rights protect?"
The old test asked, "Who is 'the father of our country?'" while the new test asks, "George Washington is famous for many things. Name one."

However, the group is also hoping that the upcoming administration will reverse the new citizenship test. They also expect that the new administration will revise some immigration policies.