The test, which will be piloted in 10 cities beginning next year, aims to ensure immigrants seeking to become American citizens can answer questions on the meaning of democracy or the Bill of Rights rather than about who wrote the Star Spangled Banner or the colours of the American flag.

"The intention is to make the citizenship test more meaningful, not more difficult," Shawn Saucier, a spokesman for the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency, told AFP.

"The current test does not gauge a person's adherence to the US Constitution or an immigrant's understanding of our civic values and what it means to be a US citizen."

Saucier said 140 questions will be tested on some 5,000 volunteers who can retake the regular test if they fail. The questions will eventually be narrowed down to 100 before the new test is fully implemented in 2008.

Among the new questions, Saucier said, are:

* Why does the US have three branches of government?
* Name two rights that are only for US citizens.
* Name two cabinet level positions.
* Name one important idea found in the Declaration of Independence.

John Keely, of the Centre for Immigration Studies, a non-profit research organisation based in Washington, welcomed the changes saying they would add substance and integrity to the citizenship process.

"The existing exam had atrophied into something meaningless," he said. "Just as we expect those getting a driver's license to actually get into an automobile and operate it proficiently, there is an analogy that simply knowing that American pie is popular in the US or what colours are our flag doesn't demonstrate one's fluency with the United States."

Immigrant advocacy groups, however, are wary of the changes and fear they will constitute another hurdle for immigrants already facing a substantial hike in the 400-dollar citizenship application fees and a longer processing period.

"Right now the immigration process is very unclear, very complicated and there is no indication that this test is going to make it less complicated or more equitable," said Ali Noorani, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.