ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society

Immigration officials have unveiled a new test for immigrants to become citizens, the New York Times reports.

Here is the government document that describes how an immigrant becomes a citizen. There are two major components to the test: a civic test and an English test. For the civics test, an applicant will be asked 10 questions, 6 of which must be answered correctly. The questions are drawn from American government, civics, and American history. Here is a list of the possible questions.

The English test has three components: an oral test, a reading test, and a writing test. The oral test is comprised of the questions normally asked during the naturalization interview. In the reading vocabulary test, applicants will be given three chances to read a sentence in English. A vocabulary list is available here. In the writing test, applicants will have three chances to correctly write a sentence dictated by the adjudications officer. A list of vocabulary words for this test is available here.

This document compares the old and new civics test. Some questions from the new civics test are after the jump.

• How many amendments does the Constitution have?
• What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?
• What is the economic system in the United States?
• What is "rule of law"?
• Who is one of your state's U.S. Senators?
• Name your U.S. Representative.
• If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
• What are two Cabinet level positions?
• Who is the Chief Justice of the United States?
• Under the Constitution, some powers belong to the States. What is one power of the States?
• What is the name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives now?
• There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.
• What are two rights only for United States citizens?
• When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms?
• There were 13 original states. Name three.
• The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.
• What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
• What did Susan B. Anthony do?
• Who was President during World War I?
• Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?
• Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.
• Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.
• Name one U.S. territory.