Citizenship & Naturalization
The U.S. naturalization test — civics and English — administered by USCIS at the N-400 interview.
Which exam are you taking?
Exams are grouped with their close relatives — the other tiers of the same licence, the same exam in other states. Open a group to see each exam with its free practice questions, study guide and cheat sheet.
- U.S. naturalization tests1 exam150 free questionsThe USCIS civics test (2025 and 2008 versions) and the English reading, writing and speaking components of the naturalization interview.US Citizenship TestExplore U.S. naturalization tests →
The naturalization test: which version you will take and what it covers
The U.S. naturalization test is not a separate appointment. It happens inside the N-400 interview, given by the USCIS officer who is deciding your application, and it has two parts: an English test and a civics test. The English test has three pieces — the officer judges your speaking through the interview conversation itself, then asks you to read a sentence aloud and to write a sentence that is dictated. The civics test is oral: the officer asks questions on U.S. government and history from a published pool and stops as soon as you have passed or failed.
Which civics test you get depends on when you filed, not when you interview. Applications filed on or after the cutoff date USCIS set in late 2025 are given the 2025 civics test, which draws from a larger question pool, asks more questions and requires more correct answers than the older test. Applications filed before that date keep the 2008 test even if the interview falls later. USCIS publishes both pools, and the study pages here follow the version that applies to your filing date.
Exemptions exist, and they are age- and residency-based. Applicants who have been permanent residents for long enough and have reached the qualifying ages may take the interview in their own language and skip the English test, but the civics test is still required. Older long-term residents may also be given a shorter civics test drawn from a marked subset of the pool. Medical disability exceptions require a physician's certification on the USCIS form.
Find your situation
The link goes to the test guide, where the question pools, the number asked and the pass threshold for each version come from USCIS.
You take the 2025 civics test: the current pool, the current number of questions and the current pass threshold, all published by USCIS. Study the current pool, and note that some answers — officials' names, for instance — change with elections.
You keep the 2008 civics test, with its own pool and its own pass threshold, regardless of when the interview is scheduled. Confirm your filing date on your receipt notice.
You may interview in your language with an interpreter and skip the English reading, writing and speaking components, but the civics test is still required; at the oldest qualifying threshold it is a shorter test from a marked subset of questions.
A disability exception to the English or civics requirement requires a licensed medical professional to complete the USCIS certification form; accommodations for the interview itself are requested separately.
Orally and immediately: the officer asks questions until you reach the pass threshold or the fail threshold and stops. A failed component can be retested once at a second interview.
How the test fits the process
- 01File the N-400. Your filing date fixes which civics test version you will be given.
- 02Prepare with the USCIS study materials for that version: the civics question pool, the reading and writing vocabulary lists, and the English speaking practice.
- 03Attend the interview. The officer conducts the English test through the conversation, reading and writing, then the oral civics test.
- 04If you fail a component, you are scheduled for a second interview to retest only that component.
Fee, format and passing standard
All 1 exams on this page. Each figure is that exam's verified fact, cited to the regulator's page on the exam guide it links to. A blank cell means the regulator publishes no fixed figure.
| Exam | Fee | Questions | Time | Passing | Written by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Citizenship Test | — | 20 | — | 12 of 20 correct (2025 test); 6 of 10 on the 2008 test | U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) |
Who writes these exams
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
- Sets the test content and versions, publishes the question pools and study materials, decides exemptions and accommodations, and administers the test through its officers at the N-400 interview.
Official pages this section is drawn from
- USCIS · Check for Test Updates
- USCIS · Study for the Test
- USCIS · Exceptions and Accommodations
What you'll find on every Citizenship & Naturalization exam
Each exam has up to four pages, one per job to be done: practice the questions, understand the exam, study the outline, or revise the morning of. Flashcards and glossary terms sit inside the study guide rather than on pages of their own.
- Practice tests1
- Free question banks with a worked explanation on every answer.
- Exam guides1
- Cost, format, eligibility and difficulty, straight from the official outline.
- Study guides1
- Full outline coverage, plus the exam's flashcards and glossary terms.
- Cheat sheets1
- One-page summaries built for the last review, with a PDF download.
Official sources
Every exam number on this page traces to a document published by the body that sets or administers the exam. These are the primary publishers cited across Citizenship & Naturalization.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)uscis.govcited by 1 exam
Last verified against these documents: