US will 'overhaul' the citizenship test: Here's what's new

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(NEXSTAR) – America is starting a "multi-step overhaul" of the naturalization process, which will include changes to the test immigrants need to pass in order to become citizens, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Wednesday.

The naturalization test has existed in some form since the early 1900s, USCIS said, and has changed several times over the decades. The test has since been standardized, and the list of possible questions is publicly available so people can study in advance. The questions are not multiple choice, but some questions have multiple correct answers.

The 2025 version of the Natural Civics Test will expand the number of potential questions from 100 to 128. The test will also get longer – citizenship applicants will need to answer 20 instead of 10. To pass, they'll need 12 correct answers out of 20. (The old standard was 6 out of 10.)

A comparison of the old test questions and new test questions shows new questions about Dwight Eisenhower, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the importance of the Federalist Papers, CBS News first reported. There's also a new question about the 10th Amendment, which has to do with states' rights.

The questions are about 75% the same or similar, and 25% is new content, USCIS said.

The test will still be given orally by the officer conducting the citizenship interview.

The 2025 version of the test isn't entirely new; USCIS switched to this iteration once before, in 2020. But the longer, revamped test was only in place for five months. Under the Biden administration, the agency switched back to a shorter version of the citizenship test from 2008, citing concerns the updated version would "inadvertently create potential barriers to the naturalization process."

Now, the agency said those concerns were unfounded.

"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 in a press release. "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."

The move by USCIS this week essentially reinstates the 2020 version of the test with one key difference: officers will only ask as many questions as necessary to determine that someone has passed or failed. Before, they were required to ask all 20 questions, even if it was already clear someone had passed (or had no chance of passing).

The longer citizenship test is just the "first of many" changes to the naturalization process, Tragesser said. More details on what else is changing will be announced "in the coming weeks and months."