All About The Citizenship Test

By Author: Paul Anderson
Total Articles: 91
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You have to take the citizenship test as part of the American citizenship process, apart from meeting other eligibility requirements. You are required to demonstrate an understanding of the English language by proving that you can read, write, and speak words in ordinary usage in English. You should also have basic knowledge of US government and history (civics) will be also tested on this.

After submitting your completed application to the USCIS with the correct fee and necessary supporting documents, the USCIS will review your application, checking it for completeness. They then will notify you about the date and place to get your fingerprints taken. Subsequently, they will inform you about the interview date. There is a set of 100 questions in the citizenship test and you will be asked 10 out of those. To pass, you should be able to answer at least 6 of the 10 questions correctly.

As stated above, you have to prove that you can read, write and speak English. Your English speaking ability will generally be judged by the way you respond to the questions put forward by the USCIS officer. You will be given ...
... three sentences and you have to read one sentence correctly, giving the USCIS officer the impression that you can understand the meaning of the sentence. Here, accent does not count and you will not be failed because of your accent. Coming to the writing part, you will have to write one sentence out of three dictated sentences correctly. Make sure you do not abbreviate any dictated word in the sentence that you write. You will not be failed because of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation errors in your sentence unless such errors change the meaning of the sentence.

The Civics part will be an oral test and you will be given ten questions and you will be declared PASS if you can answer at least six correctly. You will be considered to have successfully passed this section if you can give a correct answer or if you give an alternate phrase of the correct answer, which does not change the meaning of the answer. But, if your answer is not correct or you do not respond to the questions, the result of the test would be 'FAIL'.

Elderly persons and persons with any medically determinable physical or mental impairment will find it difficult to take the test. Such persons can be exempted from taking the tests.

Even if your case is denied as you failed in the English or Civics part, you can re apply as soon as you have mustered enough knowledge to pass the tests. You will be given a second chance and will be re-tested on the portion of the citizenship test that you failed. This will take place between 60 and 90 days from the date of your original interview. But if you fail again, your case will be denied.

You have the right to request a hearing with an immigration official if you believe that the USCIS made a mistake in rejecting your application. You should file Form N-336,"Request for Hearing on a Decision in Naturalization Proceedings” with the USCIS along with the necessary fee within thirty days from the date you received the denial letter. Even after the appeal hearing, you believe that your case is justified, you can file a petition for a new review of your citizenship application in a US district court.