The United States Center for Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS) has announced that it will revise the current U.S. Naturalization exam. The new exam will be effective as of October 1st, 2008.
The USCIS has announced it has re-designed the current U.S. Naturalization exam and that it will be given as of October 1st of 2008. The reason behind the USCIS’s interest in making changes to the U.S. Naturalization exam is to assure that the process of Naturalization is more fair and uniform throughout the nation.
The new Naturalization exam will include questions from the exam currently given through the USCIS’s pilot program in ten cities around the United States. (Albany, NY; Boston, MA, Charleston, SC; Denver, CO; El Paso, TX; Kansas City, MO; Miami, FL; San Antonio, TX; Tucson, AZ; and Yakima, WA). Out of the volunteers that took the exam through the USCIS’s pilot program this year (2007), 92.4% passed the whole exam, 93.7% passed the civics section, 99.8% passed the reading section, and 99% passed the writing section.
The revised Naturalization exam will mostly focus on concepts like American democracy and the rights and responsibilities involved in becoming an American citizen. According to the USCIS, the changes in the Naturalization exam will assist applicants to learn the values that we all share as Americans. The questions included in the new Naturalization exam will be easier to understand and will have a broader array of acceptable answers. It is expected that by having more acceptable answers, applicants will be able to learn more about governmental topics in the U.S. It will likely be easier to pass the exam. One of the goals of the USCIS in giving the new Naturalization exam is to increase the applicants’ patriotism for this country.
After the official announcement from the USCIS, all applicants will have one year to prepare for the new exam. The new Naturalization exam will be effective starting on October 1, 2008. According to USCIS rules, all persons who apply for U.S. naturalization and are scheduled for an interview before October 1st, 2008, will take the current naturalization exam. All persons who apply before October 1st, 2008 but are scheduled for an interview after October 1st, 2008, will be able to choose between taking the current naturalization exam or the new one. All persons who apply for naturalization after October 1st, 2008 will take the new exam. Remember that it is very common and strongly recommended to attend the U.S. Naturalization interview with an Immigration attorney.
About the Author:
Attorney Sonia M. Muñoz is the President of Immigration Legal Council, LLC. (ILC), a South Florida-based law firm, handling cases in all 50 states. The firm is very active in protecting the rights of Immigrants and in assisting foreign professionals to legally enter and work in the United States. You can find more information about ILC and different methods of entry into the US on their website at www.ilclawfirm.com, or by calling 1-866-482-VISA(
