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The civics test in your naturalization interview

The civics test is one part of a longer appointment. This guide covers what the officer does, how many questions you get, how many you need right, and what happens if one part does not go the way you wanted.

Two people talking across a small table in a bright office

What happens at the appointment

A USCIS officer asks you questions about your application and your background, and the English and civics tests are part of that same examination. USCIS describes the whole appointment on its naturalization interview and test page. The questions about your application follow Form N-400, and the N-400 vocabulary guide explains the hardest words in its Part 9 questions.

The English test

Reading and writing are scored the same way: you are given 3 sentences and you need 1 of them right on each. Speaking is not a separate exercise with a score; the officer judges it from how you answer the questions about your application. The English test practice on this site gives you reading rounds and dictated sentences built from the official vocabulary lists, and the official USCIS page describes that part of the test. Some applicants skip the English test entirely, because of their age and years as a permanent resident or because of a medical disability. The English test exemptions guide explains who qualifies.

The civics test

The current civics test is an oral test: the officer asks the questions and you answer them. There is nothing to write and nothing to choose from a list. You get 20 questions drawn from the official list of 128, and you need 12 correct answers to pass.

You will often get fewer than 20 questions, and that is normal. The officer stops as soon as the result is settled: at 12 correct answers, because you have passed, or at 9 wrong ones, because you can no longer reach 12. Both rules are in the USCIS Policy Manual.

Because the questions are asked and answered out of your own memory, recognizing the right answer in a list is not the skill you need. The practice test has a mode that works the same way as the interview: you read the question, say your answer, and then reveal the official ones to grade yourself.

Which list your questions come from

Two versions of the civics test are in use at the same time, and the one you take depends on when you filed Form N-400: on or after October 20, 2025 you take the 128-question version, and before that date you take the older one. The two lists and the two sets of rules are compared side by side on the about page, and each version has its own material here. Study the one that matches your filing date.

If you are 65 or older

Applicants who are 65 or older and have been permanent residents for 20 years or more get special consideration: a designated list of 20 questions instead of the full 128, 10 questions at the interview, and 6 correct answers to pass. The 65/20 guide has the details and the exact wording USCIS uses.

If one part does not go well

It rarely comes to that. USCIS reports that 95.7% of applicants pass the naturalization test, and that in fiscal year 2022 more than 88% passed at the first interview. How each part is graded, and the pass rate for each one, is in the scoring guide.

You get 2 attempts. If you do not pass a part at the first appointment, USCIS schedules a second examination between 60 and 90 days later, and you are retested only on the part you did not pass. Someone who passes civics and not English comes back for English alone.

If a part is not passed the second time either, the officer denies the application on the education requirement. That rule and the scheduling window are both in the Policy Manual. For anything about your own case, the USCIS Contact Center is the channel that can look it up.

How to get ready