What You Need to Know About the US Citizenship Test

Are you ready for the new, redesigned US citizenship test?

The test, used to determine whether a legal permanent resident of the US is eligible for citizenship, was redesigned to include more information about US civics and history. Starting in October 2009, all applicants for naturalization have been required to take the new citizenship test, considered by many to be more difficult than the previous citizenship test.

If you’re preparing for the test, thinking about taking it in the future or just plain curious about the changes, this information will get you started.

Getting Ready for the New Citizenship Test

Preparing for the citizenship test is easy when you have the right study materials.

Legal Language Services offers a guide with multiple-choice questions based on the new immigration test. The study guide even features detailed explanations of answers.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has a number of study materials available online, including a civics lesson brochure, vocabulary lists, a list of the possible questions and flash cards.

Differences Between the Old and New Citizenship Tests

Immigration services slowly phased out the previous citizenship test. The new immigration test began on October 1, 2008, but applicants who had filed for naturalization before that date were allowed to choose whether to take the old test or the new one.

The format of the new test is the same. Applicants are required to demonstrate their proficiency in English by reading, writing and speaking sentences. Then applicants are asked civics questions.

For the civics portion of the test, topics were expanded and the questions were revised. The old immigration test had many questions dealing with very basic historical facts. Many of these questions were rewritten, now requiring more than just a one-word answer to demonstrate more knowledge on the subject.

New Citizenship Test Questions

The immigration officer administering the test has a list of 100 possible civics questions. Of these 100, the officer will ask 10. The applicant must correctly answer six to pass.

Some new civics questions have more than one correct answer. For example, the acceptable answers to the question “What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?” include:

• He was a US diplomat.
• He started the first free libraries.
• He was the oldest member of the Constitutional Convention.
• He was the first postmaster general of the US.
• He wrote “Poor Richard’s Almanac.”

Here are some old citizenship test questions and their rewrites. Do you think they are any harder? How would you answer them?

Old test: Who was President during the Civil War?
New test: What was one important thing Abraham Lincoln did?

Old test: What country did we fight during the Revolutionary War?
New test: Why did the colonists fight the British?

Why the Citizenship Test was Redesigned

Immigration services did not change the test with the intent of making it harder to become a citizen! It was changed to focus on integrated civics, not just historical trivia.

The redesigned immigration test questions on policy and the rights of Americans might lead prospective citizens to a deeper understanding of history, government and all the elements that have made our country what it is today.

Now that you know all about the new citizenship test, try Legal Language’s own immigration quiz!

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