SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services this week begin using a new citizenship test officials say is more comprehensive.
The new test that goes into use Wednesday has been in the making since 2001, and will be phased in over the next six months or so, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday. Citizenship applicants who applied for citizenship before Oct. 1 can chose to take either the new test or the old one.
Alfonso Aguilar, chief of citizenship at Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the new exam is not more difficult to pass.
"People get anxious when there is change, and initially many were skeptical," Aguilar said. "The new test is not harder or easier, it's better. If you study, you will pass."
Of the 100 questions on the new civics test, applicants will be asked 10 questions and must correctly answer six.
Officials say the new version makes it more difficult to just memorize answers.
"The old test has seven questions about the American flag," Aguilar said. "We want people to know the meaning of the flag, not just its colors and how many stripes it has."
