The 100 Questions for the U.S. Citizenship Test

The 100 questions for the U.S. citizenship test are the civics bank used by applicants who filed Form N-400 before October 20, 2025. If that’s you, a USCIS officer will ask up to 10 of those 100 questions aloud during your naturalization interview, and you need 6 correct answers to pass.¹ Applicants who filed on or after October 20, 2025 take a different test drawn from a 128-question bank and must get 12 of 20 correct.²

Who Still Takes the 100-Question Test

Your filing date decides it. USCIS began administering the newer 128-question test to anyone who filed Form N-400 on or after October 20, 2025.³ Everyone who filed before that date, and who hasn’t yet had their interview, takes the 2008 version built around the 100-question list.⁴ If your interview is still ahead of you and your application went in before the cutoff, the 100 questions are what you study.

How the Test Is Given

The civics test is oral. During your interview, a USCIS officer reads questions aloud from the 100-question bank and you answer them out loud. The officer asks up to 10 questions and stops as soon as you’ve answered 6 correctly. Get to 6 quickly and the test is over.¹

The civics questions sit alongside a separate English reading and writing test at the same interview, and your spoken English is evaluated throughout the appointment.⁵ Those language pieces are their own requirement; the 100 questions are strictly the civics portion.

What the 100 Questions Cover

The 100 questions are grouped into categories that mirror a basic overview of American civics:

American Government: the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, separation of powers, and the roles of Congress, the President, and the federal courts. This is the largest category, covering how a bill becomes law and the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.
The Political System: the two major political parties, the Electoral College, voting rights, and citizenship responsibilities such as serving on a jury and paying taxes.
Colonial History and Independence: why the colonists fought the British, the significance of the Declaration of Independence, and who the Founding Fathers were.
The 1800s: the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, and westward expansion.
Modern History: major wars of the 20th and 21st centuries, the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr., and the September 11 attacks.
Geography and Symbols: major rivers and oceans, the Statue of Liberty, the national anthem, the flag, and federal holidays.

A handful of questions have answers that change with who’s in office. Your U.S. representative, your state’s senators, your governor, and the current president and vice president all depend on who’s serving on the day of your interview, not the day you filed. USCIS keeps updated answers on its test updates page, and it’s worth checking within a week or two of your appointment.⁶ An election between filing and interview can change a correct answer without warning.

The 65/20 Shortcut

If you’re 65 or older when you file and have lived in the United States as a lawful permanent resident for at least 20 years, you don’t have to study all 100 questions. USCIS marks 20 of them specifically for applicants who qualify under this rule, and the officer will ask 10 from that shortened set. You still need 6 correct to pass.⁷

The 20 marked questions focus on the essentials: First Amendment freedoms, the branches of government, the current president, the U.S. capital, voting age, why Independence Day is celebrated, and the contributions of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr. You can also take the test in the language of your choice rather than English.

Where to Get the Official List and How to Study

USCIS publishes the full 100-question list, with the accepted answers, as a free PDF.¹ That list is the test. Every question the officer can ask comes from it, and every accepted answer is printed alongside. There are no trick questions and no material outside the bank.

p>USCIS also offers a free mobile app, “USCIS: Civics Test Study Tools,” with audio for every question in English and Spanish, a practice test mode, and a review game. Hearing the questions spoken helps, because the interview version is oral and the officer’s pacing can differ from what you hear in your head while reading.

The most common study mistake is memorizing names that go stale. Confirm the current officeholders on the USCIS test updates page shortly before your interview.⁶

Language Exemptions and Medical Waivers

Two age-and-residence rules can let you take the civics test in your native language while skipping the English reading and writing test entirely:

50/20 exemption: you are 50 or older at filing and have been a permanent resident for at least 20 years.
55/15 exemption: you are 55 or older at filing and have been a permanent resident for at least 15 years.

Under either exemption, you still answer the full civics portion. The exemption changes the language, not the number of questions.⁷ You must bring your own interpreter, fluent in both English and your native language.⁸

Applicants with a physical or developmental disability or mental impairment that prevents them from learning English or civics can request a full waiver of both testing requirements using Form N-648. A licensed medical doctor, doctor of osteopathy, or clinical psychologist must examine you and certify on the form that your condition prevents you from meeting the educational requirements. The impairment must have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 months and cannot result from illegal drug use.⁹ There’s no filing fee for Form N-648, though the medical professional will charge for the exam.¹⁰

What Happens If You Fail

You get two chances. If you don’t pass at the initial interview, USCIS schedules a retest on just the portion you failed, between 60 and 90 days later.¹¹ If you failed by only a question or two, focus your restudy on the categories where you struggled.

Fail the second attempt and USCIS denies the application.⁷ From there, you can file Form N-336 within 30 days to request a hearing before a different USCIS officer, or file a new N-400 and pay the filing fee again.¹² As of 2026, the N-400 fee is $710 online or $760 by paper.¹³

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Civics (History and Government) Questions for the Naturalization Test
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 2025 Civics Test
3
Federal Register. Notice of Implementation of 2025 Naturalization Civics Test
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Check for Test Updates
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1423 – Requirements as to Understanding the English Language, History, Principles and Form of Government of the United States
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Study for the Test
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part E Chapter 2 – English and Civics Testing
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Exceptions and Accommodations
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part E Chapter 3 – Medical Certification for Disability Exceptions
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Medical Certification for Disability Exceptions
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The Naturalization Interview and Test
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form N-336, Instructions for Request for Hearing on a Decision in Naturalization Proceedings
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. N-400, Application for Naturalization