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Am I taking the new civics test, or the old one?
It depends on one thing: the date USCIS received your application. In October 2025 the civics part of the naturalization test changed, so two versions are in use at the same time: the older 100-question test and the new 128-question one. This page tells you which is yours, what the difference is, and where to study for it.
The answer is your filing date
Under USCIS policy it depends only on when Form N-400, the application for naturalization, was filed, not on when the interview is scheduled, and not on how long the wait has been.
If you filed before 20 October 2025
You take the 2008 test.
100 questions to study. The officer asks 10. You need 6 correct.
If you filed on or after 20 October 2025
You take the 2025 test.
128 questions to study. The officer asks 20. You need 12 correct.
What "filed" means, exactly
Your filing date is the day USCIS received your application, not the day you finished it, signed it, or put it in the mail.
- Sent by mail: the date your envelope arrived at the USCIS lockbox. If you posted it on 19 October 2025 and it arrived on 24 October, you filed on the 24th, and you take the 2025 test.
- Filed online: the date you signed the form and paid the fee. A draft you saved but did not submit was never filed.
USCIS puts this date on the receipt notice it sent you (Form I-797C), where it is printed as the Received Date. That date, not any other, decides which test you take.
Patina Education is a study aid, not a legal service, and cannot tell you which test applies to your application. If there is any doubt, call USCIS and ask. The USCIS Contact Center is 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833), Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm Eastern; from outside the United States, call 212-620-3418. They hold the record of when your application was received. For guidance about your own case, consult an immigration attorney or a representative accredited by the U.S. Department of Justice.
What actually changed
The questions are still about U.S. history and government, and the civics test is still spoken aloud rather than written. The bank got larger and the officer asks more of it.
| 2008 test | 2025 test | |
|---|---|---|
| Who takes it | Filed before 20 Oct 2025 | Filed on or after 20 Oct 2025 |
| Questions to study | 100 | 128 |
| Questions the officer asks | 10 | 20 |
| Correct answers to pass | 6 | 12 |
| Passing score | 60% | 60% |
On the 2025 test the officer stops as soon as you have 12 correct, or as soon as you have 9 wrong. So a passing interview can be shorter than 20 questions.
Study for your test
Everything below is free, needs no account, and can be printed.
The 128 questions · 2025 test
Practice one question at a time, with three levels of difficulty and a test mode.
Practice →The 100 questions · 2008 test
The same engine for the older test, and now with each question in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog or Haitian Creole.
Practice →All 128, English and Español
The whole 2025 bank on one page, with a printable PDF.
Read or print →The 128 in eight languages
Arabic, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian. Each one has a PDF.
Choose a language →Study guides by topic
The facts grouped the way they connect, with pictures and audio.
Open the guides →A full practice interview
Civics, reading, writing and the N-400 questions, end to end.
Take the practice test →Where these facts come from
- USCIS Policy Alert PA-2025-24, Revising Guidance on Naturalization Civics Educational Requirement, 20 October 2025. Gives the filing-date rule, the 128-question bank, 20 questions, 12 to pass, and the 60% passing score. Read the policy alert (PDF)
- USCIS Contact Center, for the telephone numbers and hours above. uscis.gov/contactcenter
- USCIS, 2025 Civics Test and Check for Test Updates. Check for test updates
- USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 1, Part B, Chapter 6, Submitting Requests. Defines what counts as the filing date: “USCIS considers filed, submitted, and date received to mean the date USCIS officially, physically receives the request.” Read the chapter
This is a study aid, not legal advice. Patina Education is not a law firm and does not represent you. Answers to some questions change with elections and appointments; USCIS keeps the current ones at uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates. Checked against the sources above on 7 September 2026.