New Trump citizenship test harder to pass

The test for legal immigrants to become naturalized U.S. citizens just got harder.

Beginning this month, every person who applies for citizenship will have to study 128 questions about American history and government instead of the previous 100 questions.

They also will have to answer 12 out of 20 questions correctly to pass instead of the previous six out of 10. Passing the test is the final requirement for legal permanent residents to become full-fledged naturalized citizens, which includes voting among other rights.

Legal permanent residents eligible to naturalize already typically spend months studying for the citizenship test.

The revised citizenship test was announced Nov. 13 by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and, officials said, is part of a decennial update intended to ensure the test comprehensively assesses applicants’ knowledge of American history, government and civic values.

But critics say the previous exam was adequate and the revised version is part of the Trump administration’s long list of efforts to curb immigration, including legal immigration.

“I think it’s unfortunate that they are making it more difficult to become a citizen of the United States,” said Ray Ybarra Maldonado, a Phoenix immigration lawyer. “The test was already difficult. It required people to learn a lot that even the average person who

was born a citizen didn’t know, so to me it’s disappointing to see them put another barrier between people who are legal permanent residents and U.S. citizens.”

Analysts say the longer, more difficult test will discourage legal permanent residents from applying for citizenship, and note that it comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s attempt to significantly increase the fee for applying for naturalization.

The cost for applying for citizenship was set to jump at least 80% on Oct. 2 to $1,170, or $1,160 if filed online, until a federal judge in September temporarily put the scheduled fee increases on immigration benefits on hold.

The revised test also comes on top of the Trump administration’s increased vetting of all immigrant benefit applicants.

“It will probably mean that a higher number will have difficulty passing it the first time around,” said Randy Capps, director of research for U.S. programs at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. Applicants get a second chance to take the test if they don’t pass the first time.

In addition to making it more difficult for legal permanent residents to become citizens, the longer test will make more work for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at a time when the agency is already under budget constraints, Capps said.

The longer test means that the citizenship interview will take longer, Capps said. And because more people probably won’t pass the first time, they will have to take the test a second time, which will mean even more work for USCIS officials, Capps said.

“It’s not just going to be a burden on the applicant. It’s going to be a burden on USCIS because it’s going to take more processing time,” he said.

It’s possible the new Biden administration may scrap the new citizenship test and go back to the previous test, Capps said.

The Trump administration in 2019 announced plans to revise the test.

USCIS piloted the test with community-based organizations and volunteers across the country this summer, officials said.

“USCIS has diligently worked on revising the naturalization test since 2018, relying on input from experts in the field of adult education to ensure that this process is fair and transparent,” said USCIS Deputy Director for Policy Joseph Edlow in a statement. “Naturalization allows immigrants to become fully vested members of American society, with the same rights and responsibilities as citizens by birth, and offering a fair test, which prepares naturalization applicants for these responsibilities, is of upmost importance to our agency.”

It’s the first revamp of test since 2008

The last time the citizenship test was revised was in 2008, when the government tried to make the test more meaningful while keeping the total number of questions the same, Capps said.

The 2008 revision went through a lengthy process that took years and included input from an advisory panel of immigrant advocates. Capps said.

“There was some criticism before that it was just a list of trivia about the U.S. people had to know. They tried to make the questions more meaningful about really understanding U.S. civics,” he said.

This time around, the Trump administration gathered little outside input, Capps said.

“There wasn’t a large public-facing process this time like there was last time,” Capps said.

Becoming a citizen benefits immigrants and the U.S. alike by promoting integration and allowing immigrants to vote, run for elected office and more quickly sponsor close relatives for immigration. Naturalized citizens also can apply for travel visas free to many countries. Citizens earn more than noncitizens with similar characteristics. Higher earnings lead to greater economic activity and higher tax payments, according to a July Migration Policy Institute report that Capps co-authored.

About 800,000 to 1 million immigrants apply for citizenship each year, Capps said. There are about 9 million immigrants who are eligible to naturalize, the report said.

Fear over passing the citizenship test was already one of the reasons some eligible immigrants don’t apply, Capps said.

“This is going to make it that much worse,” Capps said.

Under the Trump administration, the hurdles for immigrants to become citizens had already been growing even before the revised citizenship test was announced, the MPI report said.

The report, based on analysis of a 2019 national survey of naturalization assistance providers conducted by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, found that the hurdles included:

● Missed interviews when USCIS sent notices to incorrect addresses, too late, or to the attorney but not the applicant

● Longer citizenship interviews that had doubled in length, from 20 minutes to 30 minutes to 45 minutes to 60 minutes.

● Requests by USCIS officials for evidence to support citizenship applications, especially for documents related to tax compliance and income, continuous residency and physical presence, marriage and child support, and criminal history.

● More detailed questions from USCIS not directly related to citizenship eligibility.

Citizenship applications were further delayed when USCIS shut down inperson interviews and naturalization ceremonies for several months earlier this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.