The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that they plan to implement a revised version of the naturalization civics exam. Revisions on the exam started back in 2018 because the USCIS wanted to ensure the exam was continuously used in a useful manor that would assess the applicants’ knowledge of American history, government rules, and civic values.
The revised version of the exam includes more questions and covers a variety of new topics that will allow the applicant more opportunities to learn about the United States during their preparation. Although the exam is changed the passing score on the exam will not. The passing score will continue to remain at 60%, applicants must answer a minimum of 12 questions correctly out of 20. Furthermore, applicants that are of 65 years of age or older and have held a position of a lawful permanent resident for 20 years or more are only required to get 6 questions correct out of 10.
The new exam will include a total of 128 possible questions compared to the 100 questions in the current exam. This increase in questions may make it harder for applicants to pass because they now need to learn and memorize more information. Also, the interview officers are now required to ask all 20 questions rather than stopping once the applicant answers enough questions correctly to pass.
When will the new exam start being implemented?
If an applicant has applied for citizenship before December 1st, they will still be tested with the old exam. Any applicants that submitted their N-400 form after December 1st will take the updated version of the exam.
Don’t forget – you can access the USCIS’ Citizenship Resource Center if you want more help and free study material.
Do you need legal assistance with any areas of immigration? See how the Law Offices of Inna Vernikov can help – visit our immigration services page for more information.