Hello! My name is Paul Kim, and I am with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Office of Citizenship. I look forward to our discussion over the next three days where we will share ideas and information about useful resources to help you prepare your students for the naturalization interview and test.
Before we begin, I’d like to provide background about USCIS, the Office of Citizenship, general requirements for the naturalization process, and the naturalization test. This should provide a helpful foundation for our upcoming discussion.
About USCIS
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Office of Citizenship is the government agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States. USCIS seeks to secure America’s promise as a nation of immigrants by providing accurate and useful information to our customers, granting immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship, and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system.
Office of Citizenship
The USCIS Office of Citizenship is mandated by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Pub. L. No. 107–296) to promote instruction and training on citizenship rights and responsibilities, including the development of educational materials.
The mission of the Office of Citizenship is to provide federal leadership, tools, and resources to proactively foster immigrant integration. To facilitate this process, the Office of Citizenship engages and supports partners to welcome immigrants; promote English language learning and education on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship; and encourage U.S. citizenship. The work of the Office of Citizenship is focused on three specific areas:
- Providing immigrants with opportunities and tools to become vested citizens
- Building community capacity to prepare immigrants for citizenship
- Promoting dialogue and collaboration on integration and raising awareness of its importance to society
The Naturalization Process
For an adult immigrant to become a U.S. citizen, he or she must go through the process of naturalization. General requirements for naturalization call for the immigrant to:
- Be at least 18 years old at the time of filing the Application for Naturalization (Form N-400)
- Be a lawfully admitted permanent resident of the United States
- At the time of filing, have been a permanent residents in the United States for at least 5 years
- Have demonstrated continuous permanent residence
- Have demonstrated physical presence
- Have lived within the State or USCIS District for at least 3 months prior to filing
- Have demonstrated good moral character
- Demonstrate an attachment to the principles and ideas of the U.S. Constitution
- Demonstrate an ability to read, write, speak, and understand basic English
- Demonstrate a basic knowledge of U.S. history, government, and civic principles
- Take an oath of allegiance to the United States
- Receive a Certificate of Naturalization
What is Adult Citizenship Education?
US Citizenship and Immigration Services defines adult citizenship education as follows: Adult citizenship education provides the content knowledge and English language skills needed to prepare for naturalization.
The Naturalization Test
During the naturalization interview, a USCIS Officer will ask questions about an applicant’s Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, and background. An applicant will also take an English and civics test unless he or she qualifies for an exemption or waiver. The English test has three components: reading, writing, and speaking. The civics test covers important U.S. history, U.S. government and integrated civics topics. A USCIS Officer conducts the naturalization interview and test.
Speaking Test
A USCIS Officer will determine an applicant’s ability to speak English during the eligibility interview on the Form N-400, Application for Naturalization. An applicant must sufficiently demonstrate his or her ability to respond meaningfully to questions normally asked from this form.
Reading Test
An applicant must read aloud one out of three sentences correctly to demonstrate an ability to read in English. The Reading Test Vocabulary List will help your students study for the English reading portion of the naturalization test. The content focuses on civics and history topics.
Writing Test
An applicant must write one out of three sentences to correctly demonstrate an ability to write in English. The Writing Test Vocabulary List will help your students study for the English writing portion of the naturalization test. The content focuses on civics and history topics.
Civics Test
There are 100 possible civics questions on the naturalization test. During an applicant’s interview, he or she will be asked up to 10 questions from the list of 100 questions. An applicant must answer correctly six of the 10 questions.
An applicant will be given two opportunities to take the English and civics test and answer all questions relating to his or her naturalization application in English. If the applicant fails any of the tests at the initial interview, he or she will be retested on the portion the applicant failed (English or civics) between 60 and 90 days from the date of the initial interview.
You can learn more about the naturalization test, and other naturalization information here.