The Trump administration is reinstating the 2020 U.S. citizenship test, reversing Biden’s rollback of changes first made during Trump’s initial term, USCIS announced Wednesday. Sample questions include: “Name one thing the U.S. Constitution does,” “Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s,” and “Why did the United States enter World War I?”
Like the 2020 format, the updated test guide includes 128 possible questions, compared to 100 under the earlier version. Applicants must still answer 12 out of 20 questions correctly to pass, though examiners may now stop once an applicant has either passed or failed the threshold.
The agency has already begun tightening naturalization policies since President Trump’s return to office, including more rigorous vetting of applicants, stricter review of disability exception requests, and guidance directing officers to assess applicants based on moral character and societal contributions. USCIS also resumed neighborhood investigations and emphasized that unlawful voting, false citizenship claims, or illegal voter registration disqualify applicants from demonstrating good moral character.
“These critical changes are the first of many,” the agency stated.
