The US Citizenship Interview Process
Updated July 2020
The Citizenship interview process remains the same and all interviews are still conducted in person, but with the advent of Covid-19, in person interviews were suspended, and field offices closed. Currently all field offices are now open but many applicants who were scheduled for their citizenship interview in the spring are still awaiting the rescheduling of their appointments. According to the USCIS website, those appointments will be rescheduled as soon as possible, with no definitive timelines given.
You turned in the completed N-400, Application for Naturalization, which was accepted and processed, received your notification for biometrics and completed that, and now you just received notification of a date for your citizenship interview. And you’re asking yourself, “What should I expect?”
Although this outline may not be exactly what takes place during the interview, it is an overall generalization of the process.
The USCIS officer will call your name and ask that you follow them into the office where the US citizenship interview will begin. Knowing the commands of what he/she is asking you to do such as: follow me, please sit down, please stay standing, raise your right arm or hand me your passport are important to know and understand. We have provided the following quiz to help you practice answering these questions:
The officer will test your ability to speak and answer questions concerning the N-400 application that you submitted and about your background. Keep a copy of your N-400 and become familiar with the questions that are asked on the form. Knowing what the questions are and mean such as: who is your current employer, what is your family name, what is your current residence or have you ever been a member of an organization, will allow the USCIS officer to determine that you are able to speak and understand basic English. We have also provided the following quiz to help you practice answering these questions:
During the citizenship interview, the officer will ask you to read aloud one of three sentences and write one of three sentences. Only the USCIS vocabulary for reading and writing is used. Both the reading and writing focus on the civics and history topics, sentences such as: George Washington is the Father of Our Country or There are one hundred/100 Senators in Congress. Our quizzes for both the reading and writing tests only use that USCIS vocabulary. To help you prepare for this part, practice using the writing and reading quizzes. Click here to see our writing exercises, or here to see more writing and reading quizzes.
The officer will ask up to 10 questions of the 100 civics questions and you must answer 6 of the 10 questions correctly to pass. There are multiple ways to study the questions and answers to those civics questions, questions such as: What is the Supreme Law of the Land or Who was President during World War I. Practice using our quizzes or flashcards.
Below is a video of what the US citizenship interview may be like. It is provided by USCIS and should give you an idea of the interview process.
But what happens if I don’t pass the citizenship interview?
You have two chances to take the test per application; if you fail any portion (reading, writing, speaking, or civics) the first time, you will be retested on just the part you failed within 60 to 90 days from the first interview.