File for citizenship now or wait to see what Biden administration does with new Civics Test?

[ThaOne 101]

13 hours ago, skaratso said:

So about three weeks ago my wife’s removal of conditions was approved and she received her 10 year Green Card.

 

Now she is eligible to file for U.S. citizenship on the basis of the three year rule. She entered the United States with her K1 visa on September 30, 2017, we got married November 7, 2017, and since then she’s only been out of the country once for a 10 day trip (not counting the handful of other times we’ve been across the border into Canada for less than 24 hours).

 

The question is whether to file now, or wait to see what the Biden administration does about the more objectionable changes to the Civics Test. Specifically, questions where the answers exclude immigrants. For example, changing the correct answer for “Who do your state senators and representatives serve?” from “all the residents of the state” to “all the citizens of the state.”

 

I know the changes are minor in that regard, but, much as the Constitution makes clear that the Census is to count ALL the people residing in the country, a state’s Congressional leaders are supposed to serve ALL the residents of their state, citizens AND immigrants alike, and the idea that even the immigrants are not included in the answers is EXTREMELY repugnant to me as both the child of an immigrant who chose for 25 years to not get US citizenship and now the spouse of an immigrant as well.

 

So, what do others here think? File now or wait and see?

If you deem that this is enough to delay, then I presume there is no rush for you guys. In that case you must go with your conscience. There really is no way to know. He has been reversing a few things but I have personally not heard he would be doing that, yet. If your spouse is also ready to wait 25 years, then you should wait and not go against your deep beliefs. But personally I would have just gotten this done now ASAP, and then either voted to make sure the right politicians are elected in the future, advocated for that change as a US citizen, brought it up to her senators or representative. Remember things that are bad can always get worse. Maybe for 4 years they will go in a (good) direction, and then maybe in 4 years they will get worse. 

You know how human nature is. People were satisfied with one guy who served 2 terms, then decided maybe it's time for a change and time to experiment something new. Well, we all saw how that experiment ended...

Final thought: If that is the only question bothering you I think there are 128 questions in total. So that's a 0.78% (it's actually not, but I am simplifying the statistics here) chance she gets that question.

[millefleur 5,052]

My take on this is that given that Covid and economy are kind of huge priorities right now, I don't see the citizenship test taking priority over that any time soon. Better to just apply and "get in line" if the end goal is citizenship, then you can vote and have all the other freedoms citizenship offers, as others have mentioned.

[African Zealot 1,456]

Aren't we being picky over trivial stuff? Is there some question there which violates your faith or something? I am not exactly getting it. But then of course as others have pointed out becoming a citizen is not mandatory. Now to answer your question.

14 hours ago, skaratso said:

File now or wait and see?

Your choice, I see not advantage to waiting.

[dbLA 15]

6 hours ago, skaratso said:

If we decide to wait it certainly wouldn’t be for very long, maybe another month or so. There’s no way my wife wouldn’t want to be able to have a say in the 2022 midterms.

processing time for N400 is taking more then a year and i doubt the questions will change within the next 10.

[tomatoboy 33]

There is no benefit to waiting. It is highly unlikely the current administration will step in and demand USCIS revert to the previous test or generate a new test. It’s just not that big of a deal compared with the 100 other immigration priorities ahead of it in line. Is the wording the way I like? No. Would I delay filing over this? No. 
 

There -are- many disadvantages to waiting. USCIS fee structures change over time and almost always for the worse, since they are fee funded. Every day you delay is another day further back in line, and N400 workloads have been on the rise for several years, so there is already a backlog. If the goal is citizenship, file as soon as you can afford to do so. 

[aaron2020 11,652]

Agree with other posters.

 

Nothing is going to change about the test in the next few months.  It's 128 questions. Must get 12 out of 20 questions correct.  All 20 questions will be asked even if you already have 12 correct.  
 

A court has put the higher fees on hold.  That hold could change.  Cheaper to file now than have a sudden increase in the fee.

[retheem 568]

Apply for the citizenship now. There is no added benefit to waiting.

[Wafflebot 21]

19 hours ago, skaratso said:

So, what do others here think? File now or wait and see?

Look at it this way, the sooner she can vote, the sooner she can get her voice heard to make positive changes. Since you have no control over how or when this language gets updated, what is the point in waiting?

[Cathi 5,849]

Scratching my head....🤔

[Adventine 3,223]

23 hours ago, skaratso said:

So about three weeks ago my wife’s removal of conditions was approved and she received her 10 year Green Card.

 

Now she is eligible to file for U.S. citizenship on the basis of the three year rule. She entered the United States with her K1 visa on September 30, 2017, we got married November 7, 2017, and since then she’s only been out of the country once for a 10 day trip (not counting the handful of other times we’ve been across the border into Canada for less than 24 hours).

 

The question is whether to file now, or wait to see what the Biden administration does about the more objectionable changes to the Civics Test. Specifically, questions where the answers exclude immigrants. For example, changing the correct answer for “Who do your state senators and representatives serve?” from “all the residents of the state” to “all the citizens of the state.”

 

I know the changes are minor in that regard, but, much as the Constitution makes clear that the Census is to count ALL the people residing in the country, a state’s Congressional leaders are supposed to serve ALL the residents of their state, citizens AND immigrants alike, and the idea that even the immigrants are not included in the answers is EXTREMELY repugnant to me as both the child of an immigrant who chose for 25 years to not get US citizenship and now the spouse of an immigrant as well.

 

So, what do others here think? File now or wait and see?

Don't let your anger and indignation get the better of you. Your wife should file for citizenship ASAP so that you can both advocate for the changes you want to see in government.  

[NikLR 13,234]

If citizenship is the goal just apply now.  

[Diane and Chris 651]

I think that one needs to study the correct answers for the test. If you know the right answers and want to be a citizen then apply now. 

[skaratso 84]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. We're going ahead with it now.

 

And, a couple of clarifications: I never said my wife wanted to wait 25 years before applying for citizenship. That was my father who did that. He chose to remain a permanent resident for 25 years, until my mother died and he was spending up to 4 or 5 months outside the country a year and suddenly had fewer ties to the United States in case he were to lose his Green Card. Then he applied for citizenship in 2013.

[HRQX 4,146]

On 1/27/2021 at 8:55 PM, skaratso said:

The question is whether to file now, or wait to see what the Biden administration does about the more objectionable changes to the Civics Test. Specifically, questions where the answers exclude immigrants. For example, changing the correct answer for “Who do your state senators and representatives serve?” from “all the residents of the state” to “all the citizens of the state.”

Biden signed an EO today: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/02/02/executive-order-on-restoring-faith-in-our-legal-immigration-systems-and-strengthening-integration-and-inclusion-efforts-for-new-americans/

Quote

Sec. 5.  Promoting Naturalization. 
     (a)  Improving the naturalization process.  The Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, within 60 days of the date of this order, develop a plan describing any agency actions, in furtherance of the policy set forth in section 1 of this order, that they will take to:
(i)    eliminate barriers in and otherwise improve the existing naturalization process, including by conducting a comprehensive review of that process with particular emphasis on the N-400 application, fingerprinting, background and security checks, interviews, civics and English language tests, and the oath of allegiance;

 

[Talako 790]

15 hours ago, HRQX said:

Biden signed an EO today: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/02/02/executive-order-on-restoring-faith-in-our-legal-immigration-systems-and-strengthening-integration-and-inclusion-efforts-for-new-americans/

 

It takes time to alter the course of a huge ocean liner.