Prepare for the Interview
Wait for the USCIS to schedule your interview. USCIS will send you an appointment letter, which will tell you the date, time, and place of your interview. If you absolutely cannot go to the interview, follow the rescheduling instructions in the letter immediately.
While the USCIS is conducting your background check, it may request additional documents before it schedules your interview. If so, it will send you a letter telling you what it needs and where to send it.
Try to arrive at least 15 - 20 minutes before the appointment. Do NOT be late or skip it altogether.
The interviewer will ask you questions about your background and N-400 application, and test your English skills and your knowledge of U.S. civics. For the list of possible civics questions and more about the English test, click here[e1] .
1. Bring your Permanent Resident Card, your official photo identification, and your original interview appointment letter. Bring additional documents if the USCIS asks for them.
2. During the interview, the USCIS officer will:
- Ask to see your identification and place you under oath.
- Ask you questions about your application and background.
- Assess how well you speak and understand English through the whole interview.
- To test your reading ability, the interviewer will present three sentences and ask you to read them.
- To test your ability to write English, you will be asked to write one out of three sentences.
- Ask you 10 civics questions. You must answer 6 correctly to pass.
3. Based on all the information you provide and your exams, USCIS will grant your application, continue your application, or deny your application.
- Granting. USCIS will tell you if you will receive citizenship at the end of your interview. You will receive a letter in the mail telling you when and where your oath ceremony is.
- Continuing. The USCIS officer may "continue" your application, which means placing it on hold. The most common reasons for this hold are:
- Test. If you fail all or parts of either test, USCIS will reschedule you for another interview. The officer will then test you again on the part you failed. If you fail a second time, USCIS will deny your application.
- Documents. If you fail to provide required information or documents, USCIS will give you a form (Form N-14) that explains what you need to supply, and when and how to provide it. If you do not follow the instructions, your application may be denied.
- Denying. USCIS may also reject your application. If it does, you will receive a written notice telling you the reasons why.
- Request for a hearing. If the decision in your naturalization proceedings is unfavorable you may submit a request for a hearing (Form N-336). You must file your request for a hearing within 30 calendar days after the decision (33 days if your decision was mailed) with the local USCIS office that made the unfavorable decision. The filing fee for Form N-336 is $605.
Please watch the following video from USCIS. Informative description of the naturalization process including a sample interview and test.