On September 18, 2025, the Trump Administration published the final rule implementing the higher standards for the civics test, which the previous Trump Administration had proposed in 2020, but was then subsequently abandoned by the Biden Administration. The new civics test will This rule makes the following changes to the civics test:

1.28 additional questions have been added to the list of questions from which the USCIS examiner can choose when administering the civics test. Thus, the total number of possible questions has increased from 100 to 128.

2.During the civics test, the USCIS examiner will ask 20 questions, of which the applicant must answer 12 questions correctly in order to pass. Until now, the examiner would pose 10 questions and the applicant has had to answer at least 5 correctly.

Applicants who are 65 years of age, or older, and have been a permanent resident for at least 20 years, at the time of applying, will remain subject to the same requirements as before: They will be asked 10 questions from a list of 20 possible questions from the existing 2008 civics test questions without change in the question content.

The new civics test rules will apply to all N-400 applications for naturalization filed on or after October 20, 2025.

To view the explanation of this new policy on USCIS’s website, please click here.

To view the Federal Register notice promulgating the new civics test requirements, please click here.