Civics Test 100 Questions: What USCIS Asks in 2026
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The U.S. citizenship civics test draws from a pool of questions about American history and government. If you filed Form N-400 before October 20, 2025, that pool is the classic 100 questions, and USCIS asks 10 of them, requiring 6 correct answers to pass. Newer filers face a 128-question pool instead, with 20 questions asked and 12 correct required.
Which version you get depends entirely on your N-400 filing date, not on your age, your state, or the officer who interviews you. That single date split confuses a lot of applicants, and study sites that were written before October 2025 still describe only the old 100-question system as if it were universal. It isn’t anymore, so the first thing worth doing is figuring out which pool actually applies to your case.
What is the civics test 100 questions list?
The “100 questions” are a public bank of short-answer items covering American government, history, and civic principles: things like naming a branch of government, stating the year the Constitution was written, or identifying a current U.S. senator from your state. USCIS publishes the full list on its website, along with the correct answers, so there is nothing secret or trick-based about it.
This 100-question bank was the standard civics test given to every naturalization applicant from 2008 through October 19, 2025. USCIS reintroduced a larger, 128-question version starting October 20, 2025, for anyone who filed Form N-400 on or after that date (Federal Register notice, published September 18, 2025). If your filing date falls before that line, you still study and get tested on the original 100.
How many of the 100 questions does USCIS actually ask?
You are asked 10 questions out of the 100, not all of them. An officer reads the questions aloud during your naturalization interview, and you answer verbally. You do not see the questions written down, and you cannot skip around; the officer stops as soon as you have answered enough correctly to pass or gotten enough wrong to fail.
Under the 2008 version of the test, “enough correctly” means 6 out of the first 10 asked, per USCIS’s own comparison page for the 2020 test. Under the newer 2025 version, an officer asks 20 questions from the larger 128-question bank and you need 12 correct to pass.
What do the actual questions look like?
They are short factual questions, not essay prompts, and USCIS groups them into three broad topics: American government, American history, and integrated civics like geography and symbols. Here are five real examples pulled straight from USCIS’s published civics question list, so you can see the format before you commit to studying the full set:
- What is the supreme law of the land? Answer: the Constitution.
- What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? Answer: the Bill of Rights.
- How many U.S. Senators are there? Answer: 100 (one hundred).
- What is the capital of the United States? Answer: Washington, D.C.
- Name one branch or part of the government. Answer: Congress (legislative), the President (executive), or the courts (judiciary).
These five are stable facts that don’t change with elections or news cycles, which is exactly why USCIS keeps using them year after year. A large chunk of the 100 (and the larger 128) list works the same way: geography, the structure of government, and historical events that were settled long ago. The harder items tend to involve current officeholders or specific dates you have to actually memorize rather than reason out, so plan to spend more repeat practice there.
Is the test still 100 questions in 2026?
No, not for everyone. USCIS began giving the newer, 128-question test to any applicant who filed Form N-400 on or after October 20, 2025. If you filed before that date, you’re still on the 100-question, 10-asked, 6-correct system. USCIS welcomed 818,500 new citizens in fiscal year 2024, according to the agency’s Office of Homeland Security Statistics, almost all of them tested under the 100-question version that was standard at the time.
Here’s the split in one place:
| If you filed Form N-400… | Question pool | Questions asked | Correct answers needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before October 20, 2025 | 100 questions | 10 | 6 (60%) |
| On or after October 20, 2025 | 128 questions | 20 | 12 (60%) |
| Qualify for 65/20 special consideration (either filing date) | 20 designated questions | up to 10 | 6 (60%) |
Notice the passing bar is 60% either way. The test got longer and the question bank got bigger, but the percentage you need to clear did not change.
What score do you need to pass?
You need 60% correct on whichever version applies to you: 6 out of 10 under the 2008 test, or 12 out of 20 under the 2025 test. There’s no partial credit for a “close enough” answer beyond USCIS’s own accepted alternate phrasings, which the officer applies during the interview, not a written answer key you can appeal after the fact.
Filing itself carries a cost regardless of which test you take. As of USCIS’s current 2026 fee schedule, Form N-400 costs $710 if you file online or $760 on paper, with reduced and waived fees available for applicants who qualify based on income.
Does the 65/20 rule change how many questions you need to know?
Yes, if you qualify. Applicants who are 65 or older and have held lawful permanent resident status for at least 20 years at the time of filing only need to study 20 specially designated questions, marked with an asterisk in USCIS’s official question list, instead of the full 100 or 128. An officer asks up to 10 of those 20, and you pass with 6 correct, regardless of which civics test version your filing date puts you in (USCIS Exceptions and Accommodations). We cover this special consideration in full detail, including exactly which questions are designated and how the language exemption works, in our companion guide on the citizenship test for applicants 65 and older.
Are there exemptions from taking the civics test at all?
A small number of applicants are fully exempt from the English and civics requirements because of a long-term medical disability, documented on Form N-648 and certified by a medical professional. This is a narrow exception, not a study shortcut, and USCIS reviews the medical certification closely. Outside of that, and outside the 65/20 partial accommodation above, every naturalization applicant takes some version of the civics test.
We are not going to tell you how to handle your specific case here. If you think you qualify for a medical exemption, or you’re unsure which filing rules apply to your situation, talk to USCIS directly or an accredited immigration representative. This page explains the public test structure; it isn’t legal advice for your individual application.
What happens if you fail the civics test?
If you don’t pass on your first attempt, USCIS gives you a second try at the same interview cycle, typically scheduled 60 to 90 days later, and you’re retested only on the portion you failed. You don’t have to redo a passed English test just because civics didn’t go well, and vice versa.
USCIS reports an initial pass rate of 89.7% for the combined English and civics portions, covering the period since October 1, 2023, according to the agency’s Naturalization Statistics page (updated January 24, 2025). Most people who study the actual published list pass the first time.
How should you study for the civics test?
Study the exact questions USCIS publishes, in the version that matches your filing date, and practice saying the answers out loud rather than just reading them silently. The test is oral, so recognizing an answer on a flashcard and producing it verbally under a little pressure are two different skills. Run through the full list more than once, then focus repeat practice on the ones you keep getting wrong.
Timing matters too. October 2025 alone brought 169,159 new naturalization filings, a four-year record, and 88,488 approvals that same month, the most in a single month since USCIS began tracking monthly data in 2022 (NPR, April 13, 2026). A busier system means it pays to start studying as soon as your interview notice arrives rather than waiting until the week before.
USCIS publishes free flashcards, an audio version, and a pocket study guide alongside the written question list, and none of them cost anything beyond your own time. Short daily sessions, ten or fifteen minutes at a time, tend to stick better than one long cram the night before. If you keep missing the same three or four questions after several passes, write those out by hand once; the physical act of writing helps some people more than re-reading a screen.
What happens after you pass the civics test?
Passing the civics and English portions during your interview doesn’t finish the process by itself. USCIS still has to approve your full N-400 application, which covers your immigration history, moral character, and other eligibility factors beyond the test itself. Most applicants who pass their interview move to an oath ceremony within weeks to a few months, though busier field offices can take longer given the backlog.
Some offices schedule the oath ceremony the same day as your interview, so you can become a citizen that afternoon. Others send a separate notice with a later ceremony date. Either way, passing the civics test is one checkpoint in a longer file review, not the finish line by itself, so don’t assume your case is fully closed the moment you walk out of the interview room.
Frequently asked questions
Is the civics test 100 questions or 128 questions? It depends on when you filed Form N-400. Filings before October 20, 2025 use the 100-question bank; filings on or after that date use the newer 128-question bank. Both are public lists you can study in full ahead of time, and USCIS publishes both.
How many of the 100 questions will I be asked in my interview? Under the 100-question version, an officer asks 10 questions and stops once you’ve clearly passed or failed. You need 6 correct answers out of those 10 to pass, which works out to 60%.
Can I choose which version of the test I take? No. Which version you take is fixed by your N-400 filing date, not by personal choice. The only exception is a narrow transition window USCIS offered for people who filed between December 1, 2020 and March 1, 2021, which has long since closed.
Do I need to memorize every one of the 100 or 128 questions? You need to be ready for any of them, since USCIS draws from the full published list, but most applicants who study the whole list find they already know a solid portion of the answers from school or daily life. The 65/20 special consideration is the one case where the study list shrinks to just 20 questions.
What if English isn’t my first language? Unless you qualify for an age and residency exemption (including 65/20) or a documented disability, you’ll need to demonstrate basic English speaking, reading, and writing as part of the same interview. The civics questions themselves are asked and answered in English for most applicants.