New changes coming to the citizenship test in 2020 or 2021

Florida is home to a large immigrant population. Most of these people hail from Latin American and Caribbean countries, but there are migrants from all over the world. While some immigrants are content with permanent residency status, others take the extra steps to become a citizen. This requires more than paperwork and a ceremony. It also involves passing a test.

In the summer of 2019, the Trump administration announced that it planned to revise the test for the first time in 10 years. USCIS did not give details on what it planned to change but mentioned that it wanted to ensure it more accurately measured the civics knowledge of naturalization applicants. The test currently includes 10 questions pulled from a sample of 100. Immigrants must answer six of these questions correctly to pass the test. A group is reportedly already working on updating the questions.

Many immigrants feel concerned about the citizenship test changes because of the timing. The announcement came in the middle of a feud between the president and several Congresswomen, who he reportedly told to go back to their respective countries. Three of the women are U.S.-born citizens and one migrated to the U.S. more than two decades ago.

CNN points out that for this and other reasons, immigrants have good reason to feel concerned about the changes. The USCIS director reportedly stated that while people may feel paranoid about the test updates, the new test will only be another version of the same civics exam. The new test may be implemented by late 2020 or early 2021. Learn more about citizenship.