WASHINGTON (Reuters): The U.S. government plans to introduce by late 2006 more rigorous testing in English language, U.S. history and civics for immigrants hoping to become citizens, the program director said on July 13.

Gerri Ratliff, director for the naturalization redesign project at U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, told a press briefing that current tests for prospective new citizens varied widely from office to office. “We want a test that is more meaningful, reliable and fair, focusing on concepts that will ensure that applicants will be able to function as new citizens,” she said at the briefing organized by the Center for Immigration Studies, a think-tank that argues for a slowing of immigration to the U.S.

Her office plans to run a pilot program in several cities next year and begin nationwide implementation by the end of 2006, Ratliff said. “We are trying to see if there’s a way to revise the English test, not to make it harder, but to make it more of a defensible test of a person’s comprehension skills,” she said. In 2002, almost 574,000 people acquired U.S. citizenship. The three leading countries of origin were Mexico, with 77,000, Vietnam with 37,000 and India with 34,000.