Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

U.S. unveils new citizenship test

|
|
 
  
Published: Dec. 1, 2006 at 10:41 AM

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. government has developed a new citizenship test it plans to introduce in 10 cities starting in early 2007.

Citizenship and Immigration Services officials in Washington said the new test is designed to assess a potential immigrant's understanding of the country and its civic values, rather than simply test factual knowledge like previous versions of the test, The New York Times reported Friday.

"Our goal is to inspire immigrants to learn about the civic values of this nation so that after they take the oath of citizenship they will participate fully in our great democracy," said Emilio Gonzalez, director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The new test includes 144 questions on civics and history, including 57 questions held over from previous versions of the exam. Citizenship applicants are required to answer 10 specific questions chosen from the test by the examiner. Six or more correct answers are required to pass.

The exam will be unveiled in 2007 in Albany, N.Y.; Boston; Charleston, S.C.; Denver; El Paso, Texas; Kansas City, Mo.; Miami; San Antonio; Tucson; and Yakima, Wash.

Topics: Emilio Gonzalez
© 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 25
Meryl Streep and Colin Firth attend the "BAFTA" ceremony in London
View Caption
fark
After a two-year sting operation, the Feds shut down ... an Amish farm. Another victory in the war...
High school coach retires at 65 after getting arrested nude, "aroused" in car backseat with 17-year-old...
Man arrested for stealing $25k worth of Tide detergent. Witnesses say the suspect appeared quite...
News: Two cars fighting gun battle on Interstate accidentally fire into car of innocent women. Fark:...
Dads, before showing "The Smurfs" DVD from your laptop at your kid's birthday party, make sure you...
It's a Jeep thing. You wouldn't understand