CitizenshipPalInterview in two weeks: the day-by-day plan
Two weeks is enough for anyone who follows a plan and says the answers out loud. Here is the plan. Ten to twenty minutes a day.
Days 1 to 7: all 128 questions
Two rounds a day in the trainer, morning and evening. Fourteen rounds covers every question by day 7. Don't stop on the ones you miss; the app brings them back at the end of each round.
- Day 1: Principles of government. Read your N-400 once tonight and note anything that has changed since you filed.
- Day 2: System of government 1 and 2. Pick one answer for the Cabinet question and one for the 13 states.
- Day 3: System of government 3 and 4. Type in your governor, senators, and representative when those cards come up.
- Day 4: Rights and responsibilities; Colonial period.
- Day 5: The 1800s; Recent history 1.
- Day 6: Recent history 2; Symbols; Holidays. You've seen all 128.
- Day 7: Take the practice test. Whatever the score, don't worry; it tells you where to spend week two.
Days 8 to 12: review, and the rest of the interview
Mornings: "Review what you've missed" in the trainer, then one practice test every other day. Evenings: the N-400 interview practice, one section a night, answering out loud with your own true answers.
- Day 8: Review. Interview practice: Getting started and About you.
- Day 9: Review, practice test. Interview practice: Residence, travel, and family. Gather your passports, old and new.
- Day 10: Review. Interview practice: Work and taxes. Print IRS transcripts if you haven't. Assemble the document folder.
- Day 11: Review, practice test. Interview practice: the "have you ever" questions. Read the oath explained.
- Day 12: Review. Reading and writing: read three sentences aloud and write three from the vocabulary lists.
Day 13: check the current names
Confirm the President, Vice President, Speaker, Chief Justice, and your governor at uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates. One last practice test. Read what happens at the interview so the order of events is familiar. Charge your phone, look up the route, set out clothes.
Day 14: the interview
One review round with breakfast, then stop. Arrive 20 minutes early, not more. Documents in order in one folder. In the room: listen to the whole question, answer in a short sentence, ask for a repeat if you need one. The officer stops at 12 right. Most people are done in 20 minutes.
If you have less than two weeks
Compress week one: three or four rounds a day gets through the deck in four days. Never skip the N-400 practice or the document folder to make more time for civics; civics is the part you'll pass.