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() Immigrants looking to become U.S. citizens will be required to pass an expanded civics test starting in October.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Wednesday that it is launching a “multi-step overhaul” of the naturalization process. Beginning Oct. 20, the civics portion of the test will expand from 100 to 128 possible questions and will require fewer simple, one-word answers.
The Trump administration argues that the current test is too easy, citing a pass rate of 91%. Under the new version, applicants will be asked 20 questions and must answer at least 12 correctly to pass, compared to the current requirement of six correct out of 10.
One of the new questions is: “Why do U.S. representatives serve shorter terms than U.S. senators?”
The only accepted answer on the test is: “To more closely follow public opinion.”
According to the Trump administration, the change is part of a broader effort to tighten legal immigration and ensure that new citizens are “fully assimilated.” Applicants will still have two chances to pass the civics portion, but those who fail both times must restart the naturalization process.