Our office previously wrote about changes that USCIS would be making to the Naturalization Civics Test that applicants are required to pass in order to become a U.S. citizen. That updated citizenship test is now in effect, as of October 20th, 2025.

Applicants who submitted their Form N-400 prior to October 20th will be subjected to the previous testing guidelines. Anyone who filed their Form N-400 on or after October 20th, 2025 must meet the updated standards, which includes passing the updated civics test by answering 12 out of 20 questions correctly. The questions are randomly selected from a bank of questions that has been expanded from 100 to 128.

The pass/fail test is administered orally, and an immigration officer will stop the test once the applicant has passed the threshold of 12 correct responses or 9 incorrect responses. Applicants who are unsuccessful may retake the test, but failing the test twice results in an automatic denial of the citizenship application.

The other core requirements for becoming a naturalized citizen include providing proof of living in the United States as a lawful permanent resident for at least 5 years (or 3 years if married to a U.S. citizen), the ability to read, write, and speak English, evidence of good moral character, and taking an oath of allegiant to the U.S. Constitution.

Lawful permanent residents who are 65 years or older and have been in the United States for at least 20 years are subjected to modified testing guidelines that only require answering 10 questions correctly that are randomly selected from a bank of 20 possible questions.

You can download the updated bank of 128 questions and answers by clicking here.

The full study guide for the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test can be found here.

The immigration legal team at the Law Offices of Spojmie Nasiri, PC has extensive experience assisting immigrants through the entire naturalization process, including helping applicants prepare for the citizenship test. Please don't hesitate to contact our office with any questions or assistance.