USCIS is administering two versions of the naturalization civics test at the same time, and the date you filed decides which one you get.
If you filed Form N-400 before 20 October 2025, you take the 2008 test. If you filed on or after that date, you take the 2025 test. The 2025 version is based on the 2020 test, with changes to how it is administered.
What the 2025 test looks like
It is an oral test of 20 questions drawn from a published list of 128. You pass by answering 12 correctly. The officer stops as soon as you reach 12 correct answers, or 9 wrong ones, so the test can end early either way.
The 2008 test is shorter: 10 questions from a list of 100, with 6 correct needed to pass. Someone who filed a week apart from a friend can therefore sit a noticeably different test.
If you are 65 or older
The 65/20 consideration still applies. If you are 65 or older and have been a lawful permanent resident for 20 years or more, you are tested on 10 questions from a specially marked bank of 20, taken from whichever version applies to your filing date. Those questions are marked with an asterisk in the official study materials. You may also take the civics portion in the language of your choice.
Preparing for it
Study the list that matches your filing date, not the one you found first. The two lists overlap but they are not the same, and the 128-question bank is a meaningfully larger body of material.
Some answers change with elections and appointments, so verify current officeholders close to your interview rather than trusting a printed list. USCIS publishes updates for exactly this reason.
The English portions, reading and writing, did not change with the new civics test.
We give every naturalization client the study list that matches their filing date and run a practice interview before the real one, in the same format the officer will use.