Which test do I take: the 2008 test or the 2025 test?
One date decides. USCIS replaced the civics test for naturalization applications filed on or after October 20, 2025. What matters is your filing date — the day USCIS received your Form N-400 — not your interview date. Many applicants who filed before the change are interviewed long after it and still take the old test.
The rule
Which civics test you take is decided by the filing date of your Form N-400 — the date USCIS received it — not your interview date. If USCIS received your N-400 before October 20, 2025, you take the 2008 test. If USCIS received it on or after October 20, 2025, you take the 2025 test. Your interview can happen years later; the test version still follows the filing date.
| 2008 test | 2025 test | |
|---|---|---|
| Applies to | N-400 filed before October 20, 2025 | N-400 filed on or after October 20, 2025 |
| Question bank | 100 questions | 128 questions (form M-1778, rev. 09/25) |
| Questions asked | up to 10 | up to 20 |
| To pass | 6 of 10 (60%) | 12 of 20 (60%) |
| Officer stops at | 6 right or 5 wrong | 12 right or 9 wrong |
"Up to" is literal. The officer stops asking as soon as the result is decided, so most applicants are never asked the full set. On the 2025 test that means the questioning ends at 12 correct or 9 wrong; on the 2008 test, at 6 correct or 5 wrong. A short test is not a bad sign — it usually means you already passed.
Where to find your filing date
Look at your Form I-797C receipt notice, the letter USCIS mailed after you filed. The “Received Date” printed on it is your filing date. If you filed online, the same date appears in your USCIS online account.
Keep that notice — the same I-797C is one of the documents you carry to the interview, alongside your green card, your state ID and every passport you hold. Our interview document checklist covers the rest.
Haven’t filed yet?
Then your filing date is still yours to choose, and the version of the test is only half of what that date decides — the N-400 filing fee is set by the schedule in force when USCIS receives your application, and filing online currently costs less than filing on paper. Whatever you decide, an N-400 filed today falls under the 2025 test.
Common cases
- Filed September 2025, interview scheduled for December 2026
- Filed before October 20, 2025 → 2008 test, no matter when the interview happens.
- Filed November 2025
- Filed on or after October 20, 2025 → 2025 test.
- Haven’t filed yet
- Any N-400 filed today falls under the 2025 test.
- Retaking the test after a failed first attempt
- The version stays the same: it is fixed by your filing date, so you retake the same test you took the first time.
Sources
The change was announced in the Federal Register on September 18, 2025: 90 FR 45047 (doc. 2025-18050). USCIS applies it through its Policy Manual, 12 USCIS-PM E.2. A note on dates: some websites report a cutover two days earlier than the real one. The operative date for which test you take is October 20, 2025, as both sources above state.
The civics test is only half of the interview
Whichever version applies to you, the interview also includes English reading, writing, and speaking components (unless you qualify for an age-based exemption), plus a review of your own N-400 answers. See what actually happens at the naturalization interview, or go straight to reading, writing, and speaking.
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