A new United States citizenship test is expected to be launched by late next year. Some immigrants and their supporters worry the updated exam will hurt test-takers with lower levels of English skills. The test is one of the final steps to gain American citizenship. The entire process takes months. It also requires legal permanent residency for years before applying. The test currently in use was last updated in 2008. In 2020, the former presidential administration launched a new citizenship test. It was harder and longer than the test it replaced. When President Joe Biden came in to office months later, he ordered an end to that test. The order re-established the former test. Late last year, U.S. officials announced that the test would be updated. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has proposed that the new test update the English-speaking part of the test. It suggests that test givers show images of simple, everyday things like weather or food, and ask the applicant to describe what they see. In the current test, an officer examines an applicant’s speaking ability during the naturalization interview. The examiner asks personal questions that the applicant has already answered in writing, for naturalization documents. “For me, I think it would be harder to look at pictures and explain them,” said Heaven Mehreta. She emigrated from Ethiopia 10 years ago. Mehreta passed the naturalization test in May and, last month, she became a U.S. citizen. Another proposed change would make the civics section on U.S. history and government multiple-choice. Currently, applicants give spoken short answers.
