Citizenship Exam Questions

In the United States citizenship application process, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office will schedule an interview. This typically happens once you submit the naturalization application packet and you meet the requirements.

If you have any other questions about naturalization, citizenship, or immigration options for you and your family, talk to an experienced immigration attorney in your area.

What To Expect During The Interview

During this interview, the examiner will test your reading and writing level of the English language through a simple dictation test.

If you have a physical disability that prevents you from reading or writing, or you are at least 65 years old and have lived in the United States as a lawful permanent resident for at least 20 years, you are not required to take the reading and writing test.

The examiner will also ask some questions about the government and the history of the United States to confirm that you have a basic understanding of these topics.

100 Citizenship Test Questions

Below, you will find a USCIS list of 100 citizenship test questions. You should learn the answers to all of them, but you will only be asked 10 of them. You must answer six questions correctly.

These questions apply to everyone who submitted their citizenship application before December 2020.

American Government: Principles of American Democracy

1. What is the supreme law of the land?

• The Constitution

2. What does the Constitution do?

• Sets up the government
• Defines the government
• Protects the basic rights of American citizens

3. The first three words of the Constitution contain the idea of self-government (that the people govern themselves). What are these words?

• “We the people”

4. What is an amendment?

• A change (to the Constitution)
• An addition (to the Constitution)

5. By what name are the first 10 amendments to the Constitution known?

• The Bill of Rights

6. What is a right or freedom that the First Amendment guarantees?

• Expression
• Religion
• Press
• Assembly
• Petitioning to the government

7. How many amendments does the Constitution have?

• 27

8. What did the Declaration of Independence do?

• Announced independence from Great Britain
• Declared our independence to Great Britain
• Said the United States became independent from Great Britain

9. What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?

• Life
• Liberty (freedom)
• The pursuit of happiness

10. What is freedom of religion?

• You can practice any religion
• You can choose not to practice any religion

11. What is the economic system of the United States?

• Capitalist economy
• Market economy

12. What is the “rule of law” (law and order)?

• Everyone must obey the law
• Leaders must obey the law
• The government must obey the law
• No one is above the law

American Government: Government Systems

13. Name a branch or part of the government.

• Congress
• Legislative branch
• President
• Executive branch
• The courts
• Judicial branch

14. What prevents one branch of government from becoming too powerful?

• Checks and balances
• Separation of powers

15. Who is in charge of the executive branch?

• President

16. Who makes federal laws?

• Congress
• The Senate
• The House of Representatives
• The legislature (national or state)

17. What are the two parts that make up the United States Congress?

• The Senate
• The House of Representatives

18. How many United States senators are there?

• 100

19. How many years is the term of election for a United States senator?

• six

20. Name one of the current senators from the state where you live.

• Answers will vary — find your current senators
• Residents of the District of Columbia and United States territories should answer that D.C. (or territory where the applicant lives) does not have senators at the national level

21. How many voting members does the House of Representatives have?

• 435

22. How many years is the term of election of a representative of the United States?

• Two

23. Give the name of your national representative.

• Answers will vary — find your current representative
• Residents of territories with non-voting delegates or resident commissioners may state the name of such delegate or commissioner
• A response indicating that the territory does not have voting representatives in Congress is also acceptable

24. Who does a United States senator represent?

• All the people of the state

25. Why do some states have more representatives than others?

• The state’s population is higher
• Some states have more people

26. How many years is one term of a president?

• Four

27. In what month do we vote for a new president?

• November

28. What is the name of the current president of the United States?

• Answers will vary

29. What is the name of the current vice president of the United States

• Answers will vary

30. If the president can no longer serve, who becomes president?

• The vice president

31. If both the president and vice president can no longer serve, who becomes president?

• The Speaker of the House of Representatives

32. Who is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces?

• The president

33. Who signs the bills to make them a law?

• The president

34. Who vetoes bills?

• The president

35. What does the president’s Cabinet do?

• Advises the president

36. What are two Cabinet-level positions?

• Secretary of Agriculture
• Secretary of Commerce
• Secretary of Defense
• Secretary of Education
• Secretary of Energy
• Secretary of Health and Human Services
• Secretary of Homeland Security
• Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
• Secretary of the Interior
• Secretary of Labor
• Secretary of state
• Secretary of Transportation
• Secretary of the Treasury
• Secretary of Veterans Affairs
• Attorney General
• Vice president

37. What does the judicial branch do?

• Check the laws
• Explain the laws
• Resolve disputes (disagreements)
• Decides if a law goes against the Constitution

38. What is the highest court in the United States?

• The Supreme Court

39. How many judges are there on the Supreme Court?

• Answers may vary – find the current Supreme Court justices

40. Who is the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States?

• Answers may vary – find the current Supreme Court Chief Justice

41. According to our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is a power of the federal government?

• Print money
• Declare war
• Create an army
• Sign treaties

42. According to our Constitution, some powers belong to the states. What is a power of the states?

• Provide schools and education
• Provide protection (police)
• Provide security (fire brigades)
• Grant driver’s licenses
• Approve zoning and land use

43. Who is the current governor of your state?

• Answers will vary – find your state’s current governor

44. What is the capital of your state?

• Answers will vary — find your state’s capital
• Residents of the District of Columbia should answer that D.C. It is not a state and it does not have capital. Residents of United States territories must name the capital of the territory.

45. What are the two main political parties in the United States?

• Democratic
• Republican

46. What is the political party of the current president?

• Answers will vary

47. What is the name of the current Speaker of the House of Representatives?

• Answers will vary – find the current Speaker of the House of Representatives

American Government: Rights and Responsibilities

48. There are four amendments to the Constitution on who can vote. Describe one of them.

• Citizens 18 years of age and older can vote
• You are not required to pay a tax to vote (the tax to go to the polls or “poll tax”)
• Any citizen can vote
• Any citizen of any race can vote

49. What is a responsibility that corresponds only to the citizens of the United States?

• Serve on a jury
• Vote in a federal election

50. What is a right that only United States citizens can exercise?

• Vote in a federal election
• Run for federal political office

51. What are two rights that everyone living in the United States can exercise?

• Freedom of expression
• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of assembly
• Freedom to petition the government
• Freedom of religion
• Right to bear arms

52. To what do we show our allegiance when we say the Pledge of Allegiance?

• To the United States
• To the United States flag

53. What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen?

• Give up loyalty to other countries
• Defend the Constitution and laws of the United States
• Obey the laws of the United States
• Serve in the United States Armed Forces (if necessary)
• Serve the nation (if necessary)
• Be loyal to the United States

54. How old do citizens have to be to vote for the president?

• 18 years and older

55. What are two ways that American citizens can participate in their democracy?

• Vote
• Join a political party
• Help in a campaign
• Join a civic group
• Join a community group
• Share your opinion on an issue with an elected official
• Call your senator and representatives
• Publicly support or oppose an issue or policy
• Run for political office
• Send a letter or message to a newspaper

56. What is the deadline for submitting the federal income tax return?

• April 15

57. When must all men register for the Selective Service?

• At the age of 18
• Between 18 and 26

American History: Colonial Times and Independence

58. What is one reason colonists came to America?

• Liberty
• Political freedom
• Religious freedom
• Economic opportunity
• To practice their religion
• To flee from persecution

59. Who lived in what is now known as the United States before the arrival of the Europeans?

• American Indians
• Native Americans
• Indigenous peoples of the Americas

60. What group of people was brought to the United States and sold as slaves?

• Africans
• Enslaved African people

61. Why did the colonists fight the British?

• High taxes (being taxed without representation)
• The British army was staying in U.S. homes through lodging and quartering
• They didn’t have their own government

62. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

• Thomas Jefferson

63. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?

• July 4, 1776

64. There were 13 original states. Name three.

• New Hampshire
• Massachusetts
• Rhode Island
• Connecticut
• New York
• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania
• Delaware
• Maryland
• Virginia
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Georgia

65. What happened at the Constitutional Convention?

• The Constitution was written
• The Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution

66. When was the Constitution written?

• 1787

67. The writings known as “The Federalist Papers” supported the approval of the United States Constitution. Name one of its authors.

• James Madison
• Alexander Hamilton
• John Jay
• Their collective pseudonym was “Publius”

68. What is one reason Benjamin Franklin is famous for?

• American diplomat
• The oldest member of the Constitutional Convention
• First United States Postmaster General
• Author of Poor Richard’s Almanac
• Founded the first free libraries

69. Who is known as the “Father of Our Nation”?

• George Washington

70. Who was the first president?

• George Washington

American History: The 1800s

71. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?

• The Louisiana Territory
• Louisiana

72. Name one war the United States fought in the 1800s.

• The War of 1812
• The War between Mexico and the United States
• The Civil War
• The Spanish-American War

73. Give the name of the war between the North and the South of the United States.

• The Civil War
• The “war between the states”

74. Name one problem that led to the Civil War.

• Slavery
• Economic reasons
• State’s rights

75. What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?

• Freed enslaved people with the Emancipation Proclamation
• Saved (or preserved) the Union
• Presided over the United States during the Civil War

76. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?

• Freed the slaves
• Freed the slaves of the Confederacy
• Freed slaves in the Confederate states
• Freed slaves in most southern states

77. What did Susan B. Anthony do?

• Fought for women’s rights
• Fought for civil rights

American History: Recent American History and Other Important Historical Information

78. Name a war during the 1900s in which the United States fought.

• The First World War (WWI)
• The Second World War (WWII)
• The Korean War
• The Vietnam War
• The Gulf War (in the Persian Gulf)

79. Who was the president during the First World War?

• Woodrow Wilson

80. Who was president during the Great Depression and World War II?

• Franklin Roosevelt

81. What countries did the United States fight in World War II?

• Japan
• Germany
• Italy

82. Before he was president, Dwight Eisenhower was a general. What war did he participate in?

• Second World War

83. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?

• Communism

84. What movement tried to end racial discrimination?

• The civil rights movement

85. What did Martin Luther King Jr. do?

• Fought for civil rights
• Worked for the equality of all American citizens

86. What major event occurred on September 11, 2001, in the United States?

• Terrorists attacked the United States

87. Name one tribe of American Indians in the United States. (USCIS officers will be given a list of federally recognized Native American tribes.)

• Cherokee
• Navajo
• Sioux
• Chippewa
• Choctaw
• Town
• Apache
• Iroquois
• Creek
• Blackfeet
• Seminole
• Cheyenne
• Arawak
• Shawnee
• Mohegan
• Ferret
• Oneida
• Lakota
• Crow
• Teton
• Hopi
• Inuit

Integrated Civic Education: Geography

88. Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.

• The Missouri River
• The Mississippi River

89. What ocean is on the west coast of the United States?

• Pacific Ocean

90. What ocean is on the east coast of the United States?

• Atlantic Ocean

91. Give the name of a territory of the United States.

• Puerto Rico
• U.S. Virgin Islands
• American Samoa
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Guam

92. Name one state that borders Canada.

• Maine
• New Hampshire
• Vermont
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Ohio
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• North Dakota
• Montana
• Idaho
• Washington
• Alaska

93. Name one state that borders Mexico.

• California
• Arizona
• New Mexico
• Texas

94. What is the capital of the United States?

• Washington, D.C.

95. Where is the Statue of Liberty?

• (The port of) New York
• Liberty Island
• Other acceptable answers are New Jersey, near New York City, and the Hudson River

Integrated Civic Education: Symbols

96. Why are there 13 stripes on the flag?

• They represent the original 13 colonies
• The stripes represent the original colonies

97. Why are there 50 stars on the flag?

• There is a star for each state
• Each star represents a state
• There are 50 states

98. What is the national anthem called?

• The Star-Spangled Banner

Integrated Civic Education: Holidays

99. When do we celebrate Independence Day?

• July 4

100. List two United States national holidays.

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Presidents’ Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day (Fourth of July)
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day (may be replaced with Indigenous Peoples’ Day)
• Veterans’ Day
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas Day