Mock oral civics test — 2008 rules

If you filed Form N-400 before October 20, 2025, your civics test is the 2008 version, not the 2025 one: up to ten questions from a list of 100, and six correct to pass. Many of those applicants are still being interviewed in 2026, and the two lists differ in wording, in answers and in length. This mock follows the 2008 rules.

How the examiner behaves

It asks one question from the 2008 list and waits. It gives no verdict, no praise and no hint, and every answer is final, even an incomplete one. As USCIS describes for the 2008 test, a real officer stops as soon as you have six correct answers or can no longer pass (at five wrong); this simulation does not stop early, so you practice all ten, and the report reminds you of that rule. Ask for a repeat if you need one; the question is read again word for word.

What the ten questions cover

Presidential succession beyond the Vice President; the first ten amendments; what stops one branch from becoming too powerful; when the Constitution was written; a responsibility only for citizens; when men must register for the Selective Service; a problem that led to the Civil War; the president during World War I; the ocean on the West Coast; and two national holidays. That spread follows the three parts of the 2008 list: American government, American history and integrated civics.

The report at the end

1. The score, out of ten, and whether it is a pass under the rule of six correct.
2. Every question you got wrong, with your own reply and the answers on the 2008 list.
3. A note on your English: whether an officer could have followed you, and which words gave trouble. The examiner receives your answers as text, so the note covers your wording, not your pronunciation or fluency.

Make sure this is your test

The version depends only on your filing date: before October 20, 2025 means the 2008 test; on or after it means the 2025 test, with twenty questions and twelve to pass. If you are 65 or older and have been a permanent resident for 20 years or more, you study only the starred questions of your version.

Questions whose answers change (the President, the Vice President, the Speaker, the Chief Justice, the President's party, the number of justices) or depend on where you live are not asked here. Check them on uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates and usa.gov before your interview.

The questions and accepted answers come from the USCIS list of 100 civics questions (rev. 01/19), a work of the United States government. The simulation and the assessment are Zestly's own. The report is practice feedback, not a prediction of your result.

• Know which civics test applies to you: 2008 if you filed before October 20, 2025
• Answer ten questions from the 2008 list out loud, from recall
• Sit a full ten-question 2008 test against the real pass mark of six, and know when a real officer would stop
• See every missed question with the answers on the 2008 list
• Get a plain note on how clear the English of your answers was

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the USCIS list of 100 civics questions (2008 version, rev. 01/19), with the accepted answers taken verbatim from it — for example "What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? — the Bill of Rights"; "When was the Constitution written? — 1787". The format — up to ten questions, six correct to pass, the officer stopping at six correct or five incorrect — is the rule USCIS applies to applicants who filed Form N-400 before October 20, 2025.