Made in Japan, Outsourced Globally

Recently, the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the revision of the citizenship test. There will be a pilot program for this new test in 10 new cities in the U.S. in early 2007.

Now, if you are a U.S. citizen, why not give this a try? Sample of current US citizenship test questions.

In the summer of 2003, I took my oral exams and passed to become a U.S. citizen. Being brought up in the U.S. education system, I had an advantage that other immigrants did not have: civic and U.S. history courses. Even then, I couldn't answer the questions without studying, because they are strangely detailed in some areas and oddly phrased in others.

Today, I volunteer every other week at a U.S. citizenship test coaching class. For 2-1/2 hours, the students go through flash card questions and practice interview questions with native English speakers. Many of them have lived in the U.S. for well over 10 years. Some have most likely stayed illegally. In the basement of a community facility, these men and women eagerly answer the questions.

"Which amendments are related to voting rights?"
"How many stripes are on the American flag?"
"What is the Congress?"
"Why do you want to become a U.S. citizen?"

Some questions sound reasonable. Others seem outright ridiculous to an average American (c'mon, who memorizes voting rights amendments? And 'what is the Congress?' - the question is horribly vague that you don't know what they are asking for, yet interviewees are supposed to answer, 'The Senate and the House of Representatives').

Most of the people who gather at the facility are Mexicans and South Americans. I met a 65-year-old Peruvian man the other day - he hardly spoke English and he was in his retiring ages. The U.S. is where he wants to spend his retirement. I was helping two ladies named Maria and Maria a few weeks ago - they were both in their 40's and found it difficult to study in-between raising a family and work (Maria from Mexico worked as a house-keeper, and Maria from El Salvador works at a factory). I was doing one-on-one coaching for a Mexican lady named Gloria the other day. She had failed the citizenship test once already. She was so eager that she kept on excitedly blurting any answer she could think of. (e.g. - "Who wrote the 'Star Spangled Banner'?" - "George Washington! No... three? Supreme Court?!?"). Sadly, to many of the test-takers, this exam is nothing but rote memorization. But you can see it in their eyes that they are up for the challenge. The advantages of becoming a U.S. citizen (assuming that you are a green card holder already) is a US passport, ability to apply to US federal jobs, and most importantly, being able to bring your relatives into the U.S.

Every time I work with the test-takers, I try to explain the structure of the government and write out the relationships between people, places, and documents. The US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) argues that the current test does not reflect the immigrants' understanding of the US government. In my opinion, USCIS needs to improve the way test-takers can study for the exam if they truly want the immigrants to understand US laws and governance correctly. But that would be costly, and why would the US gov't want to get a 100% passing rate for US citizenship tests, right? I guess it's up to the grassroots volunteer groups that can help improve this situation.

I find it difficult to stay objective on this topic, because it hits close to home (after all, my family came to the US for a new opportunity). And if you ever meet anyone who is applying for U.S. citizenship, you can see how excited they are. It's heartbreaking to think that their efforts may not pay off - especially when they have made the U.S. their "second home" and become a part of the community.

Link to the current questions and answers.
Link to the newly revised questions and answers.