Overview

• Applicants filing after the mid-October cutoff will study a 128-question pool and must answer 12 of 20 oral questions correctly to pass.
• Officers may stop the exam once an applicant reaches 12 correct answers or nine incorrect, a change from the prior requirement to ask all 20.
• The reinstated format mirrors the 2020 version that was used from December 2020 to April 2021 before the Biden administration reverted to the 2008 test.
• USCIS says new content areas include the 10th Amendment, the Federalist Papers, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and American innovation.
• Concurrent policy shifts include stricter reviews of disability exceptions, broader 'good moral character' assessments, renewed neighborhood checks, and increased scrutiny of social media, with further changes expected.