The Trump administration is making changes to the U.S. citizenship test and reimplementing updates made to the test during the president’s first term, but which the Biden administration scrapped.  

The changes “to naturalization civics test better assess applicants’ knowledge of U.S. history and government,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Wednesday.  

The 2025 test will reimplement the 2020 naturalization civics test. Under the first Trump administration, USCIS updated the 2008 version of the exam to further test an alien’s knowledge of U.S. history and civics. The Biden administration reverted to the 2008 version of the test in 2021.  

Like the 2020 version, the 2025 study guide includes 128 possible questions, up from 100 possible questions in 2008. Aliens are required to answer at least 12 out of 20 questions correctly to pass. The passing score remains the same as the 2020 and 2008 test, but now, administrators of the test do not have to ask all 20 questions but can stop once an alien answers 12 questions correctly or nine questions incorrectly.  

“American citizenship is the most sacred citizenship in the world and should only be reserved for aliens who will fully embrace our values and principles as a nation,” USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said.  

“By ensuring only those aliens who meet all eligibility requirements, including the ability to read, write, and speak English and understand U.S. government and civics are able to naturalize, the American people can be assured that those joining us as fellow citizens are fully assimilated and will contribute to America’s greatness,” Tragesser said.  

“These critical changes are the first of many,” he added.  

The latest version of the citizenship test includes topics that are fundamental to an understanding of American history and government, according to USCIS.  

Questions among the 128 study points on the test guide include:  

• “Name one thing the U.S. Constitution does.” 
• “Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s.” 
• “Thomas Jefferson is famous for many things. Name one.” 
• “Why did the United States enter World War I?” 
• “Name one example of an American innovation.” 

The citizenship test is an oral exam and is given to aliens who have filed an application for naturalization. An alien has two opportunities to take and pass the test. If they fail twice, their application for citizenship will be denied. In fiscal year 2024, more than 94% of aliens passed the citizenship test, according to USCIS.

An alien can take the test in a language other than English only in a few circumstances, such as if an alien is 50 years of age or older and has lived in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident for at least 20 years.

USCIS has already begun implementing some changes to the citizenship process since President Donald Trump returned to office in January, according to the agency, to include a more thorough vetting process for aliens and more stringent reviews of requests for disability exceptions to English language or civics requirements.  

USCIS officers have also received guidance on vetting aliens by assessing moral character and contributions to society instead of only taking an absence of bad behavior into account.  

“The agency is also resuming neighborhood investigations to ensure that aliens meet statutory requirements and are worthy of U.S. citizenship,” according to USCIS. “Other recent policies include clarifying that unlawfully voting, unlawfully registering to vote, and making false claims to U.S. citizenship disqualify aliens from showing good moral character.” 

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