The Citizenship Test - The Last Hurdle To Becoming A Canadian Citizen
I recently attended a citizenship ceremony in Vancouver with a Pakistani couple who are friends of mine and were about to become Canadian citizens. I can honestly say this was one of the most solemn and moving ceremonies I have lately attended - with the official speeches, oath and anthem singing. The only bad thing was that their 20-year old son Fahim was not able to attend to ceremony because he failed the citizenship test.
The Canadian citizenship test is designed to make sure that all potential Canadian citizens speak one of the official languages - English or French and that they know enough about the country of which they wish to become citizens. The exam should be taken by all applicants aged 18 to 54 who meet the basic requirements for citizenship. The most important of these requirements is the permanent residence status, which must not be in doubt. The second requirement is that the applicant must have lived 3 years out of the past four in Canada and have no criminal history (i.e. convicted in criminal offence or currently in prison).
The citizenship test is a combination short answer and multiple choice questions. It covers many issues such as Canadian geography, history, political and economic system, cultural history and symbols, citizens' rights and obligations. There are 20 questions that should be answered for 30 minutes. An applicant has to answer correctly 12 out of the 20 questions in order to pass the exam.
Many people like Fahim feel that they are not prepared to take the test, even though they have lived in Canada for years as permanent residents. They make take advantage of especially prepared test kits, which include study guides, practice questions and explanation of the structure of the exam. You can purchase one here: http://www.immigroup.com
