What this guide is best for
Direct answer: Use this guide when you need one clear comparison or caution explained before you contact anyone.
Best used when: A city or state page is too broad and you need one cleaner decision path.
Quick answer
There are two naturalization civics tests in service right now, and nothing about you decides which one you take. One date does: when you filed Form N-400.
USCIS states it plainly: “Aliens who file Form N-400 to apply for naturalization before Oct. 20, 2025, will take the 2008 naturalization civics test. Aliens who file Form N-400 to apply for naturalization on or after Oct. 20, 2025, will take the 2025 test.”
This matters more than a version number suggests. The two tests differ in how many questions the bank holds, how many you are asked, and how many you must get right. A study set written for one will not prepare you for the other, and most study material in circulation was written for the 2008 test.
The two tests, side by side
| 2008 civics test | 2025 civics test | |
|---|---|---|
| Who takes it | Applicants who filed Form N-400 before Oct. 20, 2025 | Applicants who filed Form N-400 on or after Oct. 20, 2025 |
| Size of the question bank | 100 questions | 128 questions |
| Questions asked at interview | Up to 10 | 20 |
| Correct answers needed to pass | 6 | 12 |
| Point at which you fail | 5 answered incorrectly | 9 answered incorrectly |
| When the officer stops asking | At 6 correct or 5 incorrect | At 12 correct or 9 incorrect |
| Official study list | 100 Civics Questions and Answers | 128 Civics Questions and Answers |
Source: USCIS, Study for the Test, uscis.gov/citizenship/find-study-materials-and-resources/study-for-the-test.
The passing threshold is proportionally the same — six of ten and twelve of twenty are both sixty per cent — but the 2025 test doubles the number of questions asked and widens the bank by twenty-eight. There is more surface area to prepare, and less room for a lucky draw.
USCIS describes the 2025 test as based on the 2020 naturalization civics test, with some modifications to the administration of the test, and published a Notice of Implementation of 2025 Naturalization Test in the Federal Register. It gives its reason for the filing-date cutoff directly: to ensure sufficient time for the public to become familiar with the revised content.
The English test is three separate things
The civics test gets the attention, but the English requirement is assessed in three parts, and only two of them look like a test.
- Reading. You read one of three sentences aloud correctly.
- Writing. You write one of three sentences correctly.
- Speaking. There is no separate speaking exam. USCIS says your ability to speak and understand English is determined by the officer during the eligibility interview on Form N-400 itself.
That last one is the part applicants prepare for least. The interview is the speaking test. It starts when the officer greets you, not when a section is announced.
USCIS publishes an official writing-test vocabulary list. It is a finite list, which makes it one of the few parts of this process you can actually finish preparing for.
The answers that change under you
Some civics answers are not fixed facts. They are the names of people currently in office, and they change with elections and appointments.
USCIS is explicit about the standard: “You must answer the question with the name of the official serving at the time of your naturalization interview.” Not the official serving when you filed. Not the one printed in the study booklet you bought.
Questions to ask: confirm each of these against the USCIS Check for Test Updates page in the week before your interview, and ask the officer nothing you could have looked up.
- Your state’s U.S. Senators, and your U.S. Representative
- The President and the Vice President
- The political party of the President
- The Speaker of the House of Representatives
- The Chief Justice of the United States
- The Governor of your state
USCIS maintains that page for both test versions, and notes the cases that catch people out: residents of the District of Columbia and of U.S. territories answer that they have no U.S. Senators, and D.C. residents answer that D.C. does not have a Governor.
Common mistake: studying from a printed booklet or a video published before the last election and never checking the updates page.
What the test costs
Nothing, separately. There is no fee for the civics test or the English test. The money in a naturalization case is the Form N-400 filing fee, and that is published.
| Situation | Filing fee |
|---|---|
| General filing, paper | $760 |
| General filing, online | $710 |
| Documented household income not over 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines | $380 (paper only) |
| Qualifying military service under INA sections 328 or 329 | $0 |
| Approved fee waiver, Form I-912 | $0 |
Source: Form G-1055, the USCIS fee schedule, edition 05/29/26. USCIS notes that there is often a $50 discount when filing a form online. Note that the reduced fee is listed for paper filing only. Check the current fee schedule before you pay anything, and confirm on uscis.gov which route your filing takes.
Free study material is published by USCIS itself, including the official question lists and a study guide for the 2025 test. Anyone charging you for the question bank is selling you a government document.
What to do next
- Find the date USCIS received your N-400. Your receipt notice carries it.
- Work out which test that date puts you in, using the table above.
- Download the matching official question list — 100 questions or 128 — from uscis.gov.
- Discard any study material that does not name your test version.
- Check the six changeable answers against the USCIS updates page shortly before your interview.
- If age, length of residence, or a medical condition may apply to you, read the exemptions guide before you start studying anything.
Sources used on this page: USCIS, Study for the Test; USCIS, Check for Test Updates; USCIS, Exceptions and Accommodations; Form G-1055, USCIS fee schedule, edition 05/29/26. All at uscis.gov.
Educational only. Not legal advice. USCIS policy on the naturalization test has changed recently and can change again; confirm the current rule on uscis.gov before you rely on it.