The civics questions are not the whole test. You also have to read one sentence out loud and write one down. Most people spend every hour on the 128 questions and none here, which is a mistake, because this part is short and completely predictable.
| Part | What happens | To pass |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | The officer shows you up to 3 sentences | Read 1 correctly, out loud |
| Writing | The officer reads up to 3 sentences to you | Write 1 correctly |
| Speaking | No separate test | Judged from your normal answers during the interview |
Two rules remove the English test on their own, and a third removes it and shortens the civics list as well. All three are counted on the day you file Form N-400, not on the day of your interview.
| Your age when you file | Years as a permanent resident | What you take |
|---|---|---|
| 50 or older | 20 years or more | No English test. Civics only, in your own language. |
| 55 or older | 15 years or more | No English test. Civics only, in your own language. |
| 65 or older | 20 years or more | No English test, and only the 20 starred questions, 10 asked, 6 to pass. |
These exemptions come with an obligation nobody warns you about. You must bring your own interpreter, who has to translate word for word, sign an interpreter oath and a privacy release, and show a government issued identity document. The interpreter rules and Form N-648 are here.
USCIS publishes the complete vocabulary list used to build those sentences. Every sentence you can be shown is made only of words from these lists. Learn the lists and there are no surprises left. Both documents carry the revision mark 08/08, read on 2026-08-24.
Abraham Lincoln · George Washington
American flag · Bill of Rights · capital · citizen · city · Congress · country · Father of Our Country · government · President · right · Senators · state/states · White House
America · United States · U.S.
Presidents' Day · Memorial Day · Flag Day · Independence Day · Labor Day · Columbus Day · Thanksgiving
How · What · When · Where · Who · Why
can · come · do/does · elects · have/has · is/are/was/be · lives/lived · meet · name · pay · vote · want
a · for · here · in · of · on · the · to · we
colors · dollar bill · first · largest · many · most · north · one · people · second · south
Read each one out loud. Reading in your head trains the wrong skill. Every sentence below uses only words from the list above, and that is checked by program, not by eye.
Adams · Lincoln · Washington
American Indians · capital · citizens · Civil War · Congress · Father of Our Country · flag · free · freedom of speech · President · right · Senators · state/states · White House
Alaska · California · Canada · Delaware · Mexico · New York City · United States · Washington · Washington, D.C.
February · May · June · July · September · October · November
Presidents' Day · Memorial Day · Flag Day · Independence Day · Labor Day · Columbus Day · Thanksgiving
can · come · elect · have/has · is/was/be · lives/lived · meets · pay · vote · want
and · during · for · here · in · of · on · the · to · we
blue · dollar bill · fifty/50 · first · largest · most · north · one · one hundred/100 · people · red · second · south · taxes · white
Ask someone to read these to you, or read one, cover it, and write it from memory. Every sentence below uses only words from the list above.
The reading and writing lists above can be learned alone. Speaking cannot. It is judged from every answer you give the officer, so the only real practice is answering a person, out loud, in English. Ask the tutor to play the officer. Have them put the questions from your own N-400 to you, then twenty civics questions, and make them ask again in different words so you get used to saying could you please repeat that.
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Everything you have just read is free and stays free. Three things are not on this site. Seventeen full practice tests, written out in order rather than drawn at random, so you can see which sections you keep failing. The whole thing as one file you can print, which needs no battery, no signal and no data plan, and which you can write on. And one document to carry instead of a hundred and eleven pages to navigate.
113 pages. You get the PDF for printing and the EPUB for your phone, in the same download.
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Rather drill with cards? The 128 questions as printable flashcards, $4.49.
The 128 civics questions · The 100 question test · Which test do I take
Where these answers come from. The 128 questions and their accepted answers are the official USCIS civics test material, a work of the United States government. Senators and representatives were read from congress.gov and house.gov on 2026-09-04. Governor names were re-read from usa.gov on 2026-09-04, and state capitals from the same source on 2026-08-24. Office holders change, so check uscis.gov test updates before your interview.
Test rules read on 2026-08-24 from uscis.gov and the USCIS Policy Manual. This site is independent and is not affiliated with USCIS or the United States government.
Also here, practice for the Hungarian citizenship interview, en español and em português.