All 128 questions · Guide
The 2008 civics test (100 questions): who still takes it, and the 9 questions the 128-question list leaves out
If USCIS received your Form N-400 before October 20, 2025, you take the 2008 civics test — and nothing about the 2025 change applies to you. This page is for you.
Your test
| Questions to study | 100 (USCIS publication M-638) |
| Asked at the interview | up to 10, out loud, in English |
| Correct answers to pass | 6 — the officer stops as soon as you reach 6 |
| If you are 65+ with 20+ years as a permanent resident | 20 marked questions, 10 asked, 6 to pass, in the language of your choice |
The date that decides this is the Received Date printed on your I-797C receipt notice — not your interview date, and not the day you mailed it.
The official 100-question list is free from the government, and you should have it: uscis.gov/citizenship/2008-test. USCIS also mails study materials with your appointment notice.
“Should I just study the newer 128-question list?”
It is the most common question we get from applicants in your position, and the honest answer is: that material prepares you for almost all of your test, and it is harder than your test. We measured it rather than guessed.
In September 2026 we compared the official 2008 list against the 2025 list of 128, question by question:
How the 100 maps onto the 128
| 38 of your 100 | appear in the 128 word for word |
| 53 more | appear reworded — same fact, different phrasing |
| 9 | have no counterpart at all — they are below |
Six of those 9 are the entire “Integrated Civics — Geography” section. The 2025 test dropped geography: no oceans, no rivers, no territories, no border states. Your test still asks them.
So the newer material covers 91 of your 100. With 9 uncovered questions, 10 asked and 6 needed to pass, the chance of failing because of these gaps is about 0.035%. Small — but there is no reason to carry it, so here are the missing questions, free, with their official answers.
The 9 questions that are only on your test
| # | Question on the 2008 list | Accepted answers |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | In what month do we vote for President? ★ 65/20 | November |
| 45 | What are the two major political parties in the United States? ★ 65/20 | Democratic and Republican |
| 56 | When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms? ★ 65/20 | April 15 |
| 88 | Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States. | Missouri (River) · Mississippi (River) |
| 89 | What ocean is on the West Coast of the United States? | Pacific (Ocean) |
| 90 | What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States? | Atlantic (Ocean) |
| 91 | Name one U.S. territory. | Puerto Rico · U.S. Virgin Islands · American Samoa · Northern Mariana Islands · Guam |
| 92 | Name one state that borders Canada. | Maine · New Hampshire · Vermont · New York · Pennsylvania · Ohio · Michigan · Minnesota · North Dakota · Montana · Idaho · Washington · Alaska |
| 93 | Name one state that borders Mexico. | California · Arizona · New Mexico · Texas |
★ = also on the shorter 65/20 list. Numbers are the official 2008 question numbers, so you can check every one of these against the USCIS PDF.
Three more worth reading once
These test facts the 128-question material does teach — but it never asks them in your test's words, so the question can look unfamiliar even when you know the answer.
| # | Question on the 2008 list | Accepted answers |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? | the Bill of Rights |
| 6 | What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment? ★ 65/20 | speech · religion · assembly · press · petition the government |
| 10 | What is freedom of religion? | You can practice any religion, or not practice a religion. |
Two answers on your list change, and are deliberately not printed here: question 46 (the President's political party) and question 39 (the number of Supreme Court justices). A page that prints those goes wrong the moment something changes and you would have no way to know. Check them at uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates before your interview.
What we would actually tell you to do
Start with the government's own 100-question list — it is free, it is definitive, and it is your list. Most people who fail the civics test do not fail because they never saw a question; they fail because the answers did not stay, or because answering out loud to an officer is a different skill from recognising an answer on paper.
That second part is what Naturalizer is built for: it teaches the 2025 list of 128 — covering 91 of your 100 — by explaining why each answer is the answer, and then makes you say them out loud to a practice officer until they hold. It is more material than your test needs. Some applicants in your position want exactly that; others just want the free list above, and that is a completely reasonable choice.
Try the practice interview — free, no card
Or take the free PDF: the 10 study rules and the full question list (English + Spanish)