U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced changes made to the civics test for naturalization. When applying for naturalization, there is a test that is conducted during the interview. It is a two-part test, consisting of a civics test and an English proficiency test.

There are no changes to the English proficiency test. USCIS will still:

• Examine the applicant’s ability to speak English throughout the interview;
• examine the applicant’s English reading proficiency by requesting the applicant read one sentence correctly out of three options given; and
• examine the applicant’s English writing ability by reading a sentence aloud that the applicant must write correctly- they will be given three sentences and must write one correctly.

The changes that were made recently are to the civics part of the exam.

• If Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, was filed before Dec. 1, 2020, the applicant will be tested using the 2008 civics questions. There are 100 questions to study. 10 questions are asked, and the applicant must answer six of them correctly. The list of these questions: uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/questions-and-answers/100q.pdf
• If Form N-400 was filed on or after Dec. 1, 2020, the applicant will be tested with the new 2020 civics questions. There are now 128 questions to study. 20 questions are asked, and the applicant must answer twelve correctly. The list of these questions: uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/crc/M_1778.pdf

If you have any questions about the citizenship test and how this applies to a case, please contact your assigned RIS Attorney.