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U.S: Immigrants test asks more than basic
facts
15.11.2007 |
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November
15, 2007
It's no longer good enough to memorize a list of
facts and figures to pass the U.S. citizenship test.
Most questions now ask how and why. Gone are the
questions about the amount of stars and stripes on
the flag. The new list of questions focuses on the
rights and responsibilities of being an American
citizen. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services, a division of the Department of Homeland
Security, introduced the changes in September. The
revised test, which cost more than $6 million, will
go into effect Oct. 1, 2008. "The goal is to
encourage people to become better citizens," said
Shawn Saucier, Northeast communications manager for
the agency. "The old test did not do this."
Saucier said people who come from nondemocratic
countries "have to be ready to fulfill all the
rights and responsibilities of becoming a citizen"
and the new test provides the knowledge to
accomplish this. The revised test will be
administered to anyone who applies for citizenship
next year after Oct. 1. Anyone who applies for
citizenship and is interviewed before that date must
take the current test.
People who apply before Oct. 1, 2008, but are
scheduled for an interview after that date can
choose which test they want to take.
Because the naturalization process can take up to a
year or more to be completed, anyone who applies now
may have to decide which test to study for.
Gazi Hassan, 42, of Fairfield, has been a permanent
resident in the U.S. since September 2001. Hassan
was granted entry into the U.S. through the United
Nations as a political refugee from Kurdistan, an
area that spans over several countries, including
Iraq and Iran. Hassan is from Kurdistan 'northern
Iraq'.
He and his family applied for citizenship last year.
His wife was interviewed and took her oath this
summer. He, however, is still waiting for his
interview to be scheduled. The agency told him they
are in the process of checking his background. |
Fairfield resident Gazi Hassan, second from left,
holds his baby son Safin, the first of his children
born in the United States. From left are Hassan's
son Warvin, 9, Hassan, baby Safin, 6 months,
daughter Helin, 8, and wife Sanaa Ibrahim. Hassan
and his family immigrated from the Kurdistan region
of 'northern Iraq'.
Sanaa Ibrahim, of Fairfield, received her U.S.
citizenship shortly after her son Safin was born.
Ibrahim said she only
got two wrong on the 100 question test.
Photos from Connecticut.Post |
Hassan, who works part
time at a 7-Eleven, said not knowing when he will
get his interview is a problem for him. "You can't
change your address, you can't do anything. I can
have a better job if I have my citizenship."
Jiyan Bedawi, also a Kurd from Iraq, said within
about seven months of applying for citizenship she
obtained her interview and was given her oath.
Her husband, Safwan Wahib, applied at the same time
she did more than two years ago. But even though he
passed his interview, he has still not received the
oath.
Wahib was told, like Hassan, that he must wait for
his background check to be completed.
Saucier said, in the past, the agency would try to
speed up the naturalization process by conducting
interviews before background checks were complete.
That policy was changed in April 2006, so that an
applicant can no longer have their interview
scheduled before the completion of the background
check conducted by the FBI. Saucier said extensive
delays only occur in 1 or 2 percent of cases. Common
or similar names can be reasons for delays or if
information is stored in paper files that must be
located and sorted out.
Besides the history and civics questions, the
immigration officer also administers a revised
reading and writing evaluation, which will test if
the applicant can communicate properly in English.
During the civics test, applicants are asked 10
questions orally and have to answer six correctly to
pass.
Each person has two attempts to pass the test.
Someone who fails twice must reapply for
citizenship, which means paying the $675 fee all
over again.
The filing fee went up in July by about 80 percent,
from $330 to $595, plus a fingerprints and photos
fee, which also went up, from $70 to $80. Applicants
who are in the military or more than 75 years old
only pay the filing fee. The Illinois Coalition for
Immigrant and Refugee Rights and the Asian American
Justice Center participated in the revision of the
history and civics questions.
Fred Tsao, policy director for ICIRR, said that they
were not satisfied with the final product.
Tsao said the revised test contains more difficult
concepts and language and a breadth of information
that, combined with the fee increase, might create a
"second wall" for some people to become citizens.
"Compared to the old test there are also lots of new
questions concerning geography," he said. "One can
question whether knowing what the longest river is
in the U.S. is important to becoming an U.S.
citizen." www.ekurd.net
George Wu, staff attorney for the AAJC, said some of
the questions were irrelevant to being an active
citizen and would only serve to confuse applicants.
The organizations said questions like "what is the
rule of law?" were vague and confusing.
Although the answers to the 100 questions are
provided in advance, they were concerned that the
new test would be too difficult for older, less
educated applicants, who may not know English well.
Wu said that although most educated people might
find the answers easy to remember, "it's a
completely different experience for a person who is
learning this for the first time."
Saucier said the USCIS purposely included English as
a Second Language students in the pilot studies to
ensure that the pass rates of this "more vulnerable"
population did not decrease. More than 6,000
immigrants participated in the studies conducted
earlier this year in 10 cities around the nation,
including Boston. Ninety-two percent of participants
passed the first time, as opposed to the 84 percent
passing rate of the old test. Wu said they have yet
to see the data promised by the USCIS about the role
of class, race, gender and age in the studies.
Wu also said they were disappointed that the agency
had not created a comprehensive education plan to
help applicants study for the new test.
Saucier said the extra money from the recent fee
increase would allow the agency to obtain better
resources and a larger staff to make the citizenship
process quicker and more efficient. Ethan Enzer, the
director of the immigration office in Hartford, said
the recent expansion of the field office would also
increase the effectiveness and organization of the
naturalization process.
The new office, which will open in February, will be
about twice the size of the current office.
Naturalization ceremonies are held about 10 times a
month in Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford.
According to the Department of Homeland Security Web
site, more than 702,589 immigrants became U.S.
citizens in 2006. More than 7,000 of those
naturalizations took place in Connecticut.
connpost com
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