Trump Admin to Change Citizenship Tests and H‑1B Visas, Official Says

New USCIS director said the test is too easy, vowed tougher standards to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.

A person holds a welcome packet during a naturalization ceremony in New York City on June 14, 2023. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The Trump administration plans to tighten both the citizenship test and the visa system for skilled foreign workers, while also moving to close loopholes in a separate program that critics say has allowed dangerous criminals to gain legal status.

Joseph Edlow, the new director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said in a July 25 interview with The New York Times that the current naturalization test is too easy and does not reflect the intent of the law.

“The test, as it’s laid out right now, it’s not very difficult,” Edlow said. “It’s very easy to kind of memorize the answers. I don’t think we’re really comporting with the spirit of the law.”

Immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship currently study 100 civics questions and must answer six out of 10 correctly. During President Donald Trump’s first term, the test was expanded to require 12 correct answers out of 20—a version Edlow said he plans to revive.

The administration is also preparing changes to the H‑1B visa program for highly skilled foreign workers, long a flashpoint between hard-line immigration advocates and tech companies. Edlow said the system should favor applicants offered higher wages to ensure that the program supplements, rather than displaces, U.S. workers.

Critics of the H‑1B program have long said companies exploit it to cut labor costs, replacing qualified U.S. workers with cheaper foreign labor and depressing wages in fields such as technology and engineering. Supporters counter that the visas help fill persistent skill gaps, particularly in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) industries.

Edlow’s announcement comes as USCIS published a report on July 24 uncovering what it called “significant national security and integrity vulnerabilities” in the Special Immigrant Juvenile program, which provides a pathway to legal residency and eventual citizenship for certain immigrant minors deemed abused, abandoned, or neglected.

The review examined more than 300,000 petitions filed since 2013 and found hundreds of cases involving known or suspected gang members and violent offenders—including more than 600 members of the MS‑13 gang, the vast majority of whom were approved.

The report also cited widespread age and identity fraud, and noted that more than half of Special Immigrant Juvenile applicants in fiscal year 2024 were older than 18.

“Criminal aliens are infiltrating the U.S. through a program meant to protect abused, neglected, or abandoned alien children,” USCIS spokesman Matthew J. Tragesser said in a statement.

“This report exposes how the open border lobby and activist judges are exploiting loopholes in the name of aiding helpless children.”

In June, USCIS rescinded its previous policy of automatically considering deferred action for juveniles approved under the program, and officials said further steps are under review to tighten eligibility.

The moves signal how Trump’s second‑term immigration agenda extends beyond mass deportations to include overhauls of legal immigration pathways.

During Trump’s first term, the administration implemented stricter “public charge” rules—making it harder for immigrants likely to use public benefits such as food stamps or Medicaid to obtain green cards—and overhauled asylum procedures, many of which were rolled back under President Joe Biden.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance have also pressured tech companies to hire Americans over foreign workers, a message that both men amplified at a recent artificial intelligence (AI) summit.

“For too long, much of our tech industry pursued a radical globalism that left millions of Americans feeling distrustful and betrayed,” Trump said at the July 23 “Winning the AI Race” event in Washington.

“Many of our largest tech companies have reaped the blessings of American freedom while building their factories in China, hiring workers in India, and stashing profits in Ireland, you know that. All the while dismissing and even censoring their fellow citizens right here at home.

“Those days are over. We need U.S. technology companies to be all in for America. We want you to put America first. You have to do that.”

Another part of the Trump administration’s overhaul of the immigration system involves imposing a new “visa integrity fee” on nearly all foreign nationals seeking temporary entry to the United States.

The fee—set at a minimum of $250, and refundable under certain conditions—will apply to millions of travelers and temporary workers, including those on H‑1B and other work visas, and could generate billions of dollars in revenue once implemented.