Citizenship questions

Let’s say I want to become a citizen of Australia. Assume for a second I’ve crossed any legal hurdles, but I need to take a citizenship test. A sample of questions on the Australian government’s website suggests their test is pretty straight forward and things like, where is the parliament? But critics say not all the questions are fair. One Australian comedian’s satirical take on the test rips on what many Australians criticize about the real one. It was instituted at the end of last year and critics say it includes questions about arcane sports trivia and many Australians wouldn’t know or need to know them. The government is thinking about redoing the test. This migration expert says redoing the test starts a discussion on what national identity would be, and how you could possibly test those things. His own country, the Netherlands, has one of the most rigorous paths to citizenship in Europe. Besides the test, hopeful immigrants have to take language lessons and courses on social behavior and national institutions. It’s all about emphasizing integration at a time when European countries are trying to figure out how immigrants fit into their national identities. In the US, immigrants are part of the national identity and those immigrants are encouraged to study the core elements of American citizenship.