Guides to the U.S. citizenship test

How the test works, which version you take, what changes with age, and how to study so the answers come out right when spoken.

The civics question lists tell you what to learn. These guides cover everything around them. The first group explains the rules as USCIS publishes them: which of the two versions applies to you, how many questions are asked, how the English part is judged, which exceptions exist for older applicants and for people with disabilities, and what happens if you do not pass at the first interview. Each of those pages names the official page it is based on and the date we read it.

The second group is study help of our own: a four-week plan, how to give short exact answers, and three pages that pull together the answers people mix up most, the numbers and dates, the named people, and the questions that need more than one answer.

• Which civics test will I take: 2008 or 2025? Start here
• How the civics test works The rules
• The 2008 and 2025 question lists compared The two lists
• The English test: speaking, reading and writing English
• Exceptions and accommodations Age and disability rules
• Answers that change: office holders and your state Office holders
• If you do not pass the first time Second chance
• A four-week study plan Plan
• How to answer: short, exact, aloud Technique
• Questions that ask for more than one answer Watch out
• Numbers and dates to remember Memory
• People in the civics test: who did what Memory
• State capitals: the answer for your state Your state

Where to begin

If you have just filed, read which test will I take? and then how the test works. If your interview is close, go to answers that change and the practice test.

Independent study site. Citizenship Test is not a government website and is not connected with USCIS or any agency. Questions and accepted answers are quoted from the official USCIS lists; the notes are ours. Rules were read on uscis.gov on 12 November 2026. Always confirm with uscis.gov/citizenship before your interview.