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About CivicsWise

CivicsWise is an independent study site for the civics test of the U.S. naturalization interview: the official questions, each one with an explanation written in plain English.

Which test you take

When you apply for naturalization with Form N-400, a USCIS officer asks you questions about U.S. history and government from a published list. Two versions of the test are in use, and the one you take depends on when you filed your application.

Rule 2025 test 2008 test
Applies if you filed Form N-400 on or after October 20, 2025 before October 20, 2025
Questions on the official list 128 100
Questions asked at the interview up to 20 up to 10
Correct answers needed to pass 12 6
The officer stops asking at 12 correct or 9 incorrect at 6 correct or 5 incorrect

Each version has its own material on this site, and they are kept apart on purpose: the 128 questions of the current test and the 100 questions of the 2008 test, each with its own practice test. Study the one that matches your filing date.

Not sure which date applies to you, or what changes between the two lists? The guide to the 2008 and 2025 tests explains the filing date rule, how much of the two lists is shared, and where to find your date on the receipt notice.

If you are 65 or older and have lived in the United States as a lawful permanent resident for 20 or more years, you get special consideration under either version: the officer asks 10 questions from a designated list of 20, and you need 6 correct answers to pass. The 65/20 guide covers who qualifies, what USCIS accepts as an answer, and which rule actually lets you test in another language.

Some answers change with elections and appointments, such as the name of the President or of your state's governor. USCIS lists those changes on its test updates page. The full rules are on the 2025 civics test page and in the USCIS Policy Manual.

Where the questions come from

Every question and answer on this site comes from the official USCIS lists: the PDF 128 Civics Questions and Answers for the 2025 test and 100 Civics Questions and Answers for the 2008 test. They are works of the U.S. federal government, which places them in the public domain, and we reproduce them word for word.

What the explanations add

A list of questions and answers is easy to find, and it is also the least helpful way to study: a memorized answer fails the moment the officer phrases the question differently. Each explanation on this site gives the idea behind the answer, why the official answer is what it is, and where people usually get confused. That material is written by us, and it is the reason the site exists.

How the explanations are sourced

Each explanation is written from the documents listed below and names the ones it relies on. Across the 190 questions that have their own page, that comes to 941 citations, each one pointing to a document, a section and, in the PDFs, the page number printed on the sheet. They are listed under Sources on every question page, and a citation to a PDF opens it at that page.

These are the documents the explanations cite:

Every citation also stores the exact passage it relies on. A script downloads each document and looks for that passage on the page the citation names. If the passage is not there, the check fails and the citation has to be fixed. The script only confirms that the quoted words are where the citation says; whether the explanation reads them correctly is a separate question, and the citation is there so you can judge that yourself.

The full process, from the documents to the checks, is on the methodology page, and dated changes to the content are listed on the changes page.

One rule applies to answers in particular. When an explanation names more than one of the answers USCIS accepts, or says how many there are, it cites the official list of questions and answers, not a study guide.

Privacy

There are no accounts and nothing to sign up for. Your practice progress stays in your own browser. The privacy policy has the details.

Corrections

If you find a mistake, an answer that is out of date after an election, or an explanation that confused you, tell us through the contact page. Corrections are the most useful message we receive.

You can also write directly to contact@civicswise.com.