- USCIS has announced updated rules for the 2025 Naturalisation Civics Test, which now applies to Form N-400 applicants from October 20, 2025
- The new civics test consists of 20 oral questions drawn from a pool of 128, raising the bar for what candidates must know
- Applicants must reach a specific correct-answer threshold to pass, with officers stopping the test the moment a candidate crosses either boundary
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has set out the exact score foreigners need to pass the American citizenship civics test, giving prospective citizens a clear target to aim for ahead of their naturalisation interviews.
According to USCIS, the 2025 Naturalisation Civics Test applies to all applicants who filed Form N-400, Application for Naturalisation, on or after October 20, 2025.
Photo Credit: Aaron Schwartz
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The test is conducted as an oral examination, meaning candidates must answer questions verbally before an officer rather than completing a written paper.
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How the American citizenship test works
The examining officer selects 20 questions from an official list of 128 civics questions covering American history, government, and rights. To pass, a candidate must answer at least 12 of those 20 questions correctly.
The test ends immediately once a candidate crosses either threshold. Officers stop asking questions as soon as an applicant answers 12 correctly, recording a pass, or as soon as an applicant answers nine incorrectly, recording a fail. This means no candidate will be asked all 20 questions if they reach either outcome before the final question.
A candidate who answers 9 questions incorrectly at any point during the session is considered to have failed, regardless of how many questions remain.
What candidates need to prepare
Because the 20 questions are drawn from a broader pool of 128, applicants are expected to study all possible civics topics in advance. The questions cover areas such as the principles of American democracy, the system of government, United States history, and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
USCIS has made the full list of 128 civics test questions publicly available to help applicants prepare. The agency advises all N-400 filers to review the complete question bank thoroughly before their naturalisation interview, as there is no way to predict in advance which specific 20 questions will be selected during the oral session.
In a related story, Legit.ng reported that the US had highlighted two types pf exams that foreigners must pass to become nationals.
Categories of foreigners exempt from citizenship test
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the US had listed categories of foreigners exempt from the American citizenship test.
The USCIS notes that these accommodations are designed to ensure that the path to citizenship remains accessible, particularly for long-term residents whose circumstances make meeting the standard requirements difficult or impossible.
The first two categories focus on age and how long an applicant has held permanent resident status.
Source: Legit.ng