A new citizenship test, to be ready for mass release in 2008, was recently tested in a small population of immigrants. The new test, according to USCIS, is designed to make immigrants think more about American concepts, as opposed to just memorizing basic facts. Current pilot tests are taking place in ten cities and aim to expose the new test to up to 6,000 people. The pilot test includes reading and writing portions and is quite different from the current test. Currently, applicants are required to orally correctly answer six of ten questions, pulled from 140 possible questions.

"I want to make sure that people understand this is certainly not to make the test more difficult," said Maria Elena Garcia-Upson. "We just want to make sure that when they're giving the oath of allegiance, raising their right hand at the time of the ceremony, that they understand our process here in this country and what our forefathers stood for."

There is no penalty for failing the pilot test; those that do fail it may simply take the current, oral test instead. Cities currently involved in this pilot test include: San Antonia and El Paso, TX; Albany, NY; Boston, MA; Charleston, SC; Denver, CO; Kansas City, MO; Miami, FL; Tucson, AZ; and Yakima, WA.