Individuals who submitted their citizenship applications before December 1, 2020 will take the 2008 version of the U.S. citizenship test. Those who file their applications on or after December 1, 2020 will take the 2020 version.
During the citizenship test, immigration officers will ask applicants to answer 20 out of the 128 questions verbally. To pass the test, applicants must correctly answer at least 12 questions (60% of the total asked). All 20 questions will be posed orally.
Applicants who are 65 years of age or older and have held lawful permanent resident status for at least 20 years are eligible to apply for a special version of the test. The 2020 revisions do not affect the questions for this special test: applicants still only need to study 20 questions selected from a pool of 100, and must correctly answer at least 6 out of the 10 questions asked to pass.
According to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the average pass rate for the citizenship test is 90%.
The English language portion of the citizenship test remains unchanged. Applicants are required to demonstrate basic proficiency in English, including fundamental skills in reading, writing, and speaking.
The announcement notes that the citizenship test is updated once every decade to comprehensively assess applicants’ knowledge of U.S. history, government, and civic values. The previous version, introduced in 2008, has been in use for over a decade.
Joseph Edlow, USCIS Policy Deputy Director, stated: “Citizenship allows immigrants to become full, contributing members of American society, with the same rights and responsibilities as citizens born here. Providing a fair test that helps applicants prepare to take on these responsibilities is a critical mission for our agency.”
The 2020 version of the citizenship test includes three historical questions related to communism:
- What was a major concern of the United States during the Cold War?
- Communism
- Nuclear war
- Why did the United States enter the Korean War?
- To stop the spread of communism
- Why did the United States enter the Vietnam War?
- To stop the spread of communism
In contrast, the 2008 version only included one question about the Cold War.