Naturalization
Testing Guidelines
The following was taken from Immigrations Services Division, Field
Operations Policy Memorandum no. 73, "Standardization of Procedures
for Testing Naturalization Applicants on English and Civics," dated
December 28, 2000.
Speaking
"An applicant's verbal skills shall be determined from the applicant's
answers to questions normally asked in the course of an examination.
In addition, 8 CFR 335.(2)(c) requires officers to repeat and rephrase
questions until the officer is satisfied that the applicant either fully
understands the question or does not understand English. Although the
applicant must be able to communicate in English about his or her application
and eligibility for naturalization, the applicant does not need to understand
every term, word or phrase on the N-400 application. If the applicant
generally understands and can respond meaningfully to questions relevant
to the determination of eligibility, the applicant has sufficiently
demonstrated his or her ability to speak English."
Reading
"An applicant's ability to read shall be sufficiently demonstrated
if the applicant can read one sentence in a manner suggesting to the
officer that the applicant appears to understand the meaning of the
sentence at a general level. When an officer makes a positive determination
after hearing the first sentence, the applicant does not need to read
a second or third sentence. Applicants shall not be failed because of
their accent when speaking English."
Writing (sentence dictation)
"Each applicant shall be given up to three opportunities to write
a sentence, if necessary, but no applicant shall be required to write
more sentences than necessary to demonstrate writing ability. The officer
shall repeat each sentence clearly if asked of if necessary to ensure
that the applicant understands the sentence."
"An applicant's ability to write shall be sufficiently demonstrated
if the applicant can write one sentence that would be understandable
as written to a reasonable person. An applicant shall not be failed
because of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation errors unless the
errors would prevent a reasonable person form understanding what the
sentence means."
US History & Government (from the INS 100
questions list)
"All applicants shall be given 10 questions to complete."
"An applicant's knowledge of civics shall be sufficiently demonstrated
if the applicant can correctly answer six or more questions."
"Because the lists of ten questions in CLAIMS 4 [the computer
program INS officers use in naturalization cases] are randomly generated,
officers must review each set of questions to determine if the list
contains questions that are too complex or advanced for the applicant,
taking into consideration the factors in 8 CFR 312(c)(2), such as the
applicant's education, background, age, length of residence in the United
States, opportunities available and efforts made to acquire the knowledge."
