Not so long ago, immigrants were generally permitted to pass through formal U.S. entrance locations – Ellis Island, for example – as long as they passed medical checks and possessed minimal legal paperwork that was deemed to be in sufficient order. As the nation’s approach to migration and immigration has grown ever stricter over the last century, those who want to spend time in the U.S. – including those who aspire to become citizens – have been compelled to jump through an increasingly challenging set of hoops to reach their goals.
Most recently, the Trump administration has insisted on a tougher-than-ever test that aspiring citizens must pass before their applications for citizenship will be approved. As a result, it is now particularly important for businesses that support employment immigration opportunities for their workforce to provide access to study support and other resources designed to help ensure that related immigration application processes are ultimately successful.
What is changing?
Beginning in mid-October 2025, new citizenship applicants are required to answer twice as many questions when they attend a mandatory civics interview as they did prior to the change. The questions being posed have also become more difficult, and the topics (related to U.S. government, history and politics) that applicants must study have become more extensive.
Practically speaking, this means that the six correct answers out of 10 required for a “pass” since 2008 are no more. Instead, applicants must answer 12 questions correctly out of 20 questions total. Concerns that must be studied have risen from 100 possible questions to 128, including many questions that are more challenging than those asked before October 2025. Notably, many short-answer questions with objective answers are being replaced by relatively subjective subject matter. For example, geography questions with a single “right” answer are being eliminated in favor of questions with many possible answers, such as “Why did the U.S. enter the Vietnam War?”
Additionally, new applicants are now required to submit evidence that they positively contribute to American society. In the past, the absence of a concerning record served as proof of their moral fitness to become citizens.
As a result of these changes, businesses that rely on employment immigration to adequately staff their workforces may want to expand new workers’ access to immigration resources designed to better ensure that legitimate efforts to remain in the U.S. succeed without undue burdens or delay.