superkruz

I fail to see how this is an answer to my question - would you please enlighten me?

Steve_

I can think of many I've seen on forums like this and one of my close relatives is in the process of trying to sort one out, they usually involve a problem related to a prior false claim of US citizenship. Which is a lifetime ban, if proven. And the others relate to an "aggravated felony", i.e. a crime involving violence punishable by a year or more in prison. And I can think of a few also where the person gained LPR status through misrepresentation and that was uncovered when they filed an N-400.

Anyway, my view is that you should always become a citizen of whatever country you happen to live in, if it's possible. I bet there are a fair few people who moved to Switzerland who never even thought about Switzerland leaving the Schengen Area.

Lost count of how many horror stories I've seen in Canada of say, Germans, Chinese and Indians who didn't want to lose the citizenship of their original country and that caused them problems later on. E.g. get convicted of something, have to go back for some reason and stay away too long, etc.

You're always at the risk of paranoia setting in, the US is the perfect example, look at how many people applied for citizenship and how long the wait got when the paranoia started after 9/11.

Steve_

It is a policy, they want people to naturalize. Have a look at the USCIS twitter account for example. The main reason people don't I think is simply because of the application fee, although it can be waived.

Noorah101

Do you have a link to the official policy?

Rene

superkruz

Do you have a reference to an official document?

Steve_

Well they just spent $11 million on all those ads on bus shelters and posters in govt. offices, etc.: http://www.greatandhra.com/viewnews....cat=10&scat=25

So if you allocate money and advertise it, I'm assuming that is a policy of promoting it.

sir_eccles

It used to be the case that the test questions were made up on the spot by the officer. Now they give you a list of 100 questions and answers to memorize. Do you know the name of the ocean on the west coast? Or perhaps remember the answer to the writing test you just did 5 seconds earlier? Pass rate is unsurprisingly in the mid to high 90s.

SultanOfSwing

It's the ease of the whole process, really. The test questions are laughably easy, it seems to be very hard to actually fail the test, especially since you only have to score 60%. If you answer six correctly in a row, they stop there.

Noorah101

Well, you're thinking of native English speakers only, though. It's not as laughably easy for those who have to learn not only the specific language/vocabulary relating to the test, but the concepts behind all that US history.

Rene

SultanOfSwing

That's as may be but within the context of this thread, given OP is a native English speaker, I still feel confident in my assertion that he/she will find it easy.

MarylandNed

What concepts? It's rote learning. They give you the actual questions and answers in advance. It's really not that hard even if English is not your first language.

Michael

I think the test has gotten harder as the year passed. My grandmother naturalized and didn't speak more than 50 words of English during her whole life. When I went into the Navy in the 1960s, they asked for my mother's naturalization number and when I asked her for it, she said she didn't have one since she assumed she became a citizen when her mother did. So after voting for about 30 years, she went to the INS and my father and the Conoff joked about deporting her but they just naturalized her without any test. However that was rural America and 50 years ago.

Noorah101

I know, I agree...my own husband did it with his limited English skills. I'm just saying I don't think the fact that the questions are "easy" is an indication that USCIS necessarily WANTS people to naturalize (although I do agree, they want you to). The questions could be a lot easier, too.

I agree that learning the questions/answers can be done rote. But it also helps with memorization if one learns what the words actually mean (and the concepts behind them). My husband had a ton of questions about what these words actually mean, in addition to just learning how to get them out of his mouth intelligibly. LOL

I guess what I'm saying is...although he studied hard and passed the test, learning all that new material was not "easy" for him, or a piece of cake. He worked very hard at it for months before his interview. So based on that experience, I wouldn't say the test was purposely made to be easy.

Rene

Michael

Compared to most countries, the test is easy. Usually most countries require fluency in their language to naturalize. In the US, you can have an interpreter to help.

Noorah101

I didn't think you were allowed to have an interpreter at your naturalization test?

It's even easier to become an Iranian citizen! All you have to do is marry an Iranian citizen. Once you're married, you become an Iranian citizen automatically...no language fluency or civics test required. You just apply for the Iranian passport and there ya go!

Rene