The White House Just Took a Major Step to Help Immigrants Become Citizens Katie Kausch - MTV News
go to original September 19, 2015

A word from the President of the United States about the Stand Stronger campaign, a national, multilingual public awareness campaign to promote the rights, responsibilities and opportunities among eligible legal permanent residents. (Stand Stronger US)

In celebration of Thursday's Citizenship Day and Constitution Week this week, White House officials announced big changes to the citizenship application process that could affect as many as 8.8 million people.

For one thing, people seeking citizenship can now study for the infamously daunting citizenship exam by taking practice tests on their smartphones.

The test has two parts — an English proficiency section and a 10-question civics section — both of which must be passed in order to be naturalized. For those who live in rural areas and might not have access to test-prep centers, the United States Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services is teaming up with the Department of Agriculture to set up temporary immigration support centers to provide services to more people.

At a cost of $680, the test is also expensive. In another improvement to the system, people applying for citizenship can now pay this fee via credit card (previously, you could only pay with a check or money order). This will make it easier for lower-income immigrants to who may not be able to afford the full fee upfront.

...In another celebration of Constitution Week, Citizenship and Immigration Services is inviting people to share what citizenship means to them in six words, using the twitter hashtag #citizenship6.

Read the rest at MTV News

Photo: Getty

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