Failing a part of the test at the first interview does not end the application. USCIS gives every applicant two attempts at the English and civics tests.
What happens
- You are scheduled for a second interview between 60 and 90 days after the first one.
- Only the part you failed is given again: English, civics, or both if both were failed. A part you passed stays passed.
- The same rules apply at the second interview: up to 20 civics questions with 12 to pass on the 2025 version, up to 10 with 6 to pass on the 2008 version, one of three sentences to read and one of three to write.
What failing looks like on the civics test
The officer stops asking at 9 wrong answers on the 2025 test and at 5 wrong on the 2008 test. If that happens before you reach the passing number, the civics part is failed for that interview. You keep the result of the English part.
Sixty days is enough
The list of questions is public and short. Going through all of them once a day with flashcards, taking the practice exam until it is passed several times in a row, and keeping the missed questions in front of you is what most people need. The English sentences come from two short word lists, and reading them aloud every day is the practice that matters.
Practice the civics questions