Tom Ostrom on Rochester Today

Do you need to be able to speak English to become a US citizen? That question was raised Tuesday during Rochester Today with Tom Ostrom and Andy Brownell.

The answer is yes... but there are exceptions.

A little research discovered that having a command of English, both spoken and written, is listed as a requirement for those seeking to be become naturalized U.S. citizens on the Immigration and Naturalization Service website.

A little more research uncovered exceptions known as the 50/20 rule and the 55/15 rule. The first rule basically allow a person who is at least 50 years old and has lived in the U.S. at least 20 years to request a test of their civics knowledge in their native language.  The 55/15 rule is nearly identical. It allows a person 55 years old and older who has lived in the country for at least 15 years the same exception from the English requirement.

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