On October 20 local time, the U.S. naturalization test underwent its most significant reform in nearly 15 years. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officially announced that, effective immediately, all applicants submitting Form N-400 for naturalization must prepare based on the "2025 U.S. Naturalization Test Question Bank." Applications submitted before this date will still be subject to the previous examination standards.
This reform introduces substantial adjustments in the number of questions, examination format, and scoring criteria, aiming to comprehensively and thoroughly assess applicants' understanding of U.S. history, government structure, and core values. The overall difficulty of the test has increased, with stricter requirements, which is expected to directly impact the naturalization plans of many green card holders. Additionally, USCIS has concurrently strengthened its review of applicants' "moral character." Applicants who submit Form N-400 on or after October 20 must pass this assessment in addition to the knowledge test.
The most noticeable change in this reform is the expansion of the question bank. The previous review question bank for the naturalization test had only 100 questions, which has now been expanded to 128, further broadening the scope of knowledge coverage. The reform also significantly impacts the number of questions asked and the passing standards. Previously, the interviewer would select up to 10 questions from the bank, and applicants needed to answer at least 6 correctly to pass the citizenship knowledge test. Under the new rules, the interviewer will select 20 questions from the 128-question bank, and applicants must answer at least 12 correctly to qualify.
Furthermore, the examination termination mechanism has also changed. Under the old rules, if an applicant answered 6 questions correctly in a row, the interviewer would stop asking questions. The new rules adjust this to: once an applicant answers 12 questions correctly or answers 9 incorrectly, the test immediately ends. Answering 12 correctly is considered passing, while answering 9 incorrectly is considered failing.
Applicants aged 65 and above who have been lawful permanent residents for at least 20 years will take a simplified version of the test. This version will randomly select 10 questions from the 2008 and 2020 test question banks, and answering them correctly will suffice.
It is worth noting that applicants who fail the first examination will be given one opportunity to retake the test. However, if they fail both examinations, their application for U.S. citizenship may be denied.
When planning a long-term life path in the U.S., "retaining Chinese citizenship + U.S. green card" and "becoming a U.S. citizen" are the two core options.
A green card grants the holder permanent residency in the U.S. but does not change their Chinese citizenship status. Naturalization, on the other hand, means becoming a U.S. citizen and, due to Chinese law not recognizing dual citizenship, requires relinquishing Chinese citizenship. This fundamental difference directly affects the scope of rights, convenience in daily life, and long-term planning, making it worthy of careful consideration.
Green card holders and U.S. citizens both enjoy permanent residency in the U.S. and can legally live in the country for an extended period. Both are essentially equal in terms of employment, with green card holders not needing to apply for additional work visas and being free to choose their careers (except for certain sensitive positions involving national security).
Their children can both access the U.S. public education system, with no difference in tuition standards from primary to higher education stages, regardless of their immigration status.
