If you’re planning to apply for U.S. citizenship soon, you should know that big changes are coming to the USCIS naturalization civics test starting October 20, 2025.
The Trump administration announced the change as being important “as a measure to promote a unified American identity and attachment to the Constitution, laws, and founding principles of the United States.”
The 2025 version of the USCIS (U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services) naturalization test will be an expanded return to the 2020 version of the exam. For the past few years USCIS has been using the 2008 version of the test. The back and forth is due to the fact that during the first Trump administration USCIS implemented the 2020 version of the USCIS civics exam – meant to be more difficult than the 2008 exam. When Biden took office his administration returned USCIS to the simpler 2008 version of the exam. Now that Trump is back in office, it was expected that his administration would likely try to again change the USCIS naturalization test.
Here’s what’s new — and how to prepare.
What’s Changing
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The civics question pool will expand from 100 to 128 questions.
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Officers will ask up to 20 randomly selected questions instead of 10.
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You must answer 12 correctly to pass.
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The test will end once you answer 12 questions correctly (pass) or 9 incorrectly (fail).
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The test will remain oral, and English reading/writing requirements will stay the same.
Importantly, if you file your Form N-400 before October 20, 2025, you’ll take the current (2008) version of the test.
How to Prepare
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Start early — learn all 128 questions from official USCIS study materials.
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Practice speaking your answers — the test is oral.
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Stay current — know the correct answers based on current officials at your interview date.
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Get professional guidance — a lawyer can help ensure your application and background are ready.
We Can Help
At Valverde Law we help green card holders prepare for naturalization — from filing Form N-400s to attending naturalization interviews.
If you’re thinking about applying for citizenship, contact us today to plan your best path forward.
If you need assistance filing for naturalization, or filing for an immigration petition, you can reach us at (757) 422-8472, or send us a message on our website. You can also schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys by clicking on this link.
