The U.S. Citizenship Test in 2026: How the 2025 Naturalization Test Works

The "citizenship test" is really two tests you take during your naturalization interview, after you file Form N-400: an English test (reading, writing and speaking) and a civics test on U.S. history and government. A USCIS officer gives both, face to face, at the same appointment.

There's no separate exam day, no computer and no score report. For each part you either meet the standard or you don't. Pass both parts, meet the other naturalization requirements, and you move on to the Oath of Allegiance.

Who takes it: lawful permanent residents (green card holders) applying to naturalize. Some older long-time residents skip the English test or get a shorter civics test, and people with a qualifying disability can ask for an exception. All of that is covered below.

Your filing date decides it, not your interview date. You don't get to pick.

USCIS announced the 2025 test on September 17, 2025, and the official notice ran in the Federal Register the next day. Nearly everyone applying now takes the 2025 version, so that's what this guide covers. If you filed before the cutoff and are still waiting for an interview, study USCIS's 2008 list instead.

That speaking piece catches people off guard. If you can't follow questions about your own application ("Have you traveled outside the United States since you filed?"), that's a speaking problem even if you've memorized all 128 civics answers.

1. Check in. Bring your appointment notice and every document it tells you to bring.
2. Oath and N-400 review. The officer puts you under oath and goes through your application with you. This conversation is your speaking test.
3. Reading and writing. One sentence at a time, until you get one right or use up three.
4. Civics. Questions out loud until you hit 12 correct or 9 wrong.
5. Results. The officer usually tells you at the end of the interview whether you passed each part.

The exact order is up to the officer. Don't let a shuffled order throw you; the standards are the same.

The officer picks questions from the official list of 128 and asks them out loud. You answer out loud. It is not multiple choice, and there's no answer sheet to jog your memory, so practice saying answers, not just recognizing them.

Many questions have several acceptable answers ("Name one…"). You only need one, or exactly as many as the question asks for: two Cabinet-level positions, three holidays, five of the 13 original states. Pick the shortest listed answer you can say with confidence and drill that one.

Eight answers change

• Current officials (questions 30, 38, 39, 57): Speaker of the House, President, Vice President, Chief Justice. As of September 29, 2026 those are Mike Johnson, Donald J. Trump, JD Vance and John G. Roberts, Jr.
• Where you live (questions 23, 29, 61, 62): one of your U.S. senators, your U.S. representative, your governor and your state capital. D.C. and territory residents have special answers on the official list.

Check uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates the week of your interview, and look up your members of Congress on senate.gov and house.gov. Elections change these answers.

The 2025 update only touched civics. The Federal Register notice says it "does not change the English language parts of the naturalization test (reading, writing, speaking, and understanding)."

• Reading: read one of up to three sentences out loud correctly. The words come from USCIS's reading vocabulary list, which is heavy on civics words (President, Congress, Senators) and question words (Who, What, When).
• Writing: write one of up to three dictated sentences correctly. Words come from the writing vocabulary list: names like Lincoln and Washington, months, holidays and places like Delaware and Alaska.
• Speaking: judged from your answers during the interview.

Both vocabulary lists are short. Learn every word on them, including spelling for the writing list, and you've covered the whole universe of possible sentences. Our reading and writing test page has both lists and practice sentences.

The 50/20 and 55/15 thresholds are in federal regulations (8 CFR 312.1); the 65/20 rule is spelled out in USCIS's 2025 Federal Register notice. If you're close to one, count carefully: it's measured on the day USCIS receives your N-400, not the day you're interviewed.

The 65/20 list has its own page: the 20 questions for 65/20 applicants. If you'll test in Spanish, start with our bilingual Spanish list.

The citizenship test itself has no separate fee; it's part of your N-400 application. The N-400 fee in the current federal fee regulation (8 CFR 106.2) is $760 if you file on paper. Filing online costs $50 less, $710, under the regulation's online-filing discount (8 CFR 106.1(g)). If your household income is at or below 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, you can pay a reduced fee of $380 (the online discount doesn't apply to the reduced fee). Applicants naturalizing under the military service provisions (INA sections 328 and 329) pay no fee.

Fees and payment rules change. Confirm the exact amount on USCIS's fee schedule, Form G-1055, the day you file.

Fail the English or civics test at your first interview and you get a second opportunity to pass the test(s) you failed, within 90 days after that first exam, and USCIS can't require you to come back sooner than 60 days (8 CFR 312.5 and 335.3). Miss the retest without good cause and without telling USCIS beforehand, and it counts as a fail.

Fail the second time and USCIS denies the application. You can file a new N-400 later, which means a new fee and starting over, so treat the first attempt as the real one.

Most people can learn 128 short answers in a few weeks of steady practice. This plan assumes about 20 minutes a day.

1. Week 1: American Government, questions 1–36. Learn 5–6 new questions a day. Say every answer out loud.
2. Week 2: questions 37–72. Lots of these share an answer ("The President"), so they go fast. Look up your senators, representative, governor and state capital now.
3. Week 3: American History, questions 73–99. Group the people questions (Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Lincoln) and learn one fact each.
4. Week 4: questions 100–128. Build a timeline: 1776, 1787, 1803, 1861–1865, 1920, 1929, 1941, 2001.
5. Week 5: full practice. Run Interview Mode daily. Keep a list of every miss.
6. Week 6: misses and English. Only your missed questions, plus the reading and writing vocabulary. Check current officials right before your interview.

Short on time? Do weeks 1–4 at double speed and keep week 5. Don't skip saying answers out loud; the test is oral.

• Bigger bank: 128 questions instead of 100.
• More questions asked: up to 20 instead of up to 10, and you need 12 right instead of 6. The officer stops as soon as you've passed or failed.
• Same 65/20 structure: 10 questions from a special list of 20, 6 to pass.
• Same English test: reading, writing and speaking didn't change.

Full breakdown: the 2025 citizenship test: what changed from the 2008 test.

• USCIS: Study for the Test: the official 128 questions, 65/20 list and vocabulary lists.
• USCIS: Check for Test Updates: current answers for officials.
• Federal Register notice on the 2025 civics test: the official rules.
• 8 CFR 312.1 and 8 CFR 312.2: English and civics requirements and exceptions.

• Citizenship practice test: Interview Mode (real 12/9 stop rule), a 20-question multiple-choice quiz, and 65/20 Mode.
• All 128 questions and answers, with study tips.
• 65/20 questions for applicants 65 and older.
• Reading and writing test practice.
• Las 128 preguntas en español.
• Quick 20-question quiz: see how you'd do right now.