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Specifically, USCIS noted that in July and August of 2007, the agency received nearly 2.5 million applications and petitions, which was double the number typically received in a two-month period. In fiscal year (FY) 2007, USCIS received 1.4 million applications for naturalization, more than the totals from FYs 2006 and 2005 combined. Forty percent of those, or 562,000, were filed in the fourth quarter. Applications for employment- and family-based adjustment of status increased by 76 percent, from 497,000 in FY 2006 to 875,000 in FY 2007.

USCIS said it plans to reduce processing times to six months by the third quarter of fiscal year 2010. USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez noted that up to several thousand new employees are being hired and trained to deal with the “deluge.” This is in addition to about 700 retired federal government employees who are being hired back without having to sacrifice their pensions, under a plan proposed by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

A sign-on letter expressing deep concern about the delays notes, among other things, that “[m]any of the undersigned organizations opposed fee increases of the magnitude that USCIS proposed and warned that if USCIS were to proceed with the fee increases, it must prepare for a surge in applications from immigrants wishing to avoid the fee increases. In fact, USCIS did move forward with the fee increases, but did not adequately prepare to handle such a surge.”

An announcement about processing times and case status is available on page 5 of USCIS’s December 2007 newsletter. Related testimony from Mr. Gonzalez on January 17, 2008, before the House of Representatives’ immigration subcommittee is available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/testimony/testimony_ETG_17jan08.pdf.

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Earlier this year, more than 6,000 citizenship applicants volunteered to take a pilot version of the test at 10 USCIS sites across the country, including Boston, during a four-month period. Volunteers achieved a 92.4 percent overall pass rate on the first try, USCIS noted. The pass rate on the current test is 84 percent, which includes the wider universe of test-takers who did not volunteer for the pilot test. The 100 new civics items on the new naturalization test were selected after USCIS, a panel of history and government scholars, and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers conducted a review of their responses to the 142 items on the pilot test. Following the pilot, USCIS refined the questions and answers, dropped several and adjusted others to increase clarity, and conducted a second review, eventually narrowing the list to the new 100 questions. The range of acceptable answers to questions will increase so that applicants may learn more about a topic and select from a wider range of responses.
ABIL member Steve Clark reports that in Boston few clients had difficulty with the new test format, but only those with total comfort in English elected to take the test using the new format. He comments that “it will be interesting to see the percentage passing when the new format becomes mandatory.”

The following guidelines will determine whether naturalization applicants will take the current test or the redesigned version:

If an applicant:

• Applies for citizenship before October 1, 2008, and is scheduled for his or her naturalization interview before October 1, 2008, he or she will take the current test.
• Applies before October 1, 2008, and is scheduled for his or her naturalization interview after October 1, 2008, he or she can choose to take either the current test or the redesigned version.
• Applies after October 1, 2008, he or she will take the redesigned version.
• Is scheduled for his or her naturalization interview after October 1, 2009, regardless of when he or she applied, he or she will take the redesigned version

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USCIS has posted the 100 new question and answers, the reading and writing vocabulary lists, a side-by-side comparison of the current and new test, answers to frequently asked questions and other information about the new test online at http://www.uscis.gov/newtest.

The related press release is available here.

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The reading and writing portions of the pilot naturalization exam are similar to those in the current test, except the new exam contains more civics-based vocabulary. Applicants will still have up to three chances to read and write a sentence correctly in English. In the writing section of the test, the testing officer will dictate a sentence and ask the applicant to write everything the officer reads. During the reading portion of the test, the testing officer will ask the applicant to read each word out loud in that sentence. The proposed format for the new civics exam will still require applicants to answer correctly six out of 10 questions chosen from a master list of 100 civics questions and answers. The difference is that the new questions will focus on civics and history topics rather than on the general range of topics on the current test.

The pilot testing program will begin in 10 cities beginning in February 2007 and will last two to three months. The 10 cities are Albany, NY; Boston, MA; Charleston, SC; Denver, CO; El Paso, TX; Kansas City, MO; Miami, FL; San Antonio, TX; Tucson, AZ; and Yakima, WA. USCIS will administer about 6,000 tests under the pilot, and will use 142 U.S. history and government questions and approximately 36 reading and 36 writing items. Topic areas include principles of American democracy, system of government, rule of law, rights and responsibilities, American history, and geography. Citizenship applicants in the 10 pilot areas who are scheduled for their naturalization tests during the pilot will receive advance copies of the civics questions and the reading and writing vocabulary lists for self-study. Applicants may decline participation in the pilot.

USCIS has posted the two vocabulary lists and other study materials. The announcement, which includes a fact sheet, is posted here.

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USCIS said it plans to retain the current U.S. history and government test format but will replace the “trivia-based content” of the questions with new questions that will test applicants on the fundamentals of American democracy, such as the rule of law, separation of powers, and rights.

The notice, published on December 19, 2006, lists the sites where the pilot test will be conducted beginning in early 2007. The notice is available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/E6-21548.pdf.

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