Reviewing for the Immigration and Naturalization Citizenship Exam

The United States Department of Immigration and Naturalization requires that you be comfortable with spoken and written English.  You must show this by taking a test.  This web page will help you prepare for the test.

If you click here, you will be taken to a web page with 100 questions and their answers.  Click "Slide Show" on the bottom right.

Each question is written in English on the page.  You will also hear an American saying the question out loud.  You should repeat the question just the way he asks it.  Then give the answer.

To see if your answer was correct, go to the next page by clicking your mouse or pressing the space bar on your keyboard.  The next page will have the answer and the answer.  Repeat the question and the answer just the way the girl on the recording says it.  This will help you speak clearly.

You can exit from the "Slide Show" by pressing the key labeled "Esc" on your keyboard.

When you take the INS test, the person who administers the test will read some of these questions.  You should expect that you will be asked about ten of the questions, but perhaps not the first ten.  You should give the answer you've learned in this review.  If you are not sure what the question was, repeat the question and then give the answer.  This way, the examiner will know if you misunderstood and are answering a different question.

You may also be asked questions about your native country, what job you did there, your military service, or other questions about your past.  You should practice answering these kinds of questions with an American who can help you prepare.  The questions are normally based on the form you used to apply for citizenship.  Ask your friend to look at this form and to pose questions based on the material in it.  For example, he or she can ask you where you lived before you came to America, and why you came here.  He can ask what you have done here to earn a living, and whether you have been paying your taxes.  Who do you live with?  What work did you do before you came to America?

When you can answer the 100 questions on this page, and questions like the ones above, you will be ready to pass the United States Department of Immigration and Naturalization test and to become a citizen of the United States.  Good luck to you!

Notes:

The INS 100 questions exist in three versions, all for New York State.  Feel free to download them and modify them.

Version 1: This is a web page, with questions and answers spoken by an American native.  It uses the files stored here.  Note that download times can be slow for these files, which are large.  If you use the review files more than once, the files will be copied to your computer and should run much faster.  You can make sure this happens by adding the web page to your "favorites" and marking "make content available offline".  The first access will then be very slow but subsequent ones will be very fast.

This version of our web page was tested using Microsoft Internet Explorer.  We can't promise that the page will work for Netscape, although the two browsers are supposed to be compatible.

Version 2: This is a "powerpoint" file, for use on an personal computer running Microsoft software.  It is smaller and doesn't have the spoken questions and answers.  You'll need to install Microsoft Office, or the (free) Powerpoint viewer to use it.  You can download the viewer here.  Select the link for "Powerpoint Viewer".  You'll need to tell the web page which kind of computer you are using.  If you are unfamiliar with this type of download, ask for help from the person who administers the computer you are using.  Once you have downloaded the viewer, it can be used to open the file.  After that, it should behave like the web page, but will be much faster.

Version 3: This is a powerpoint file with the spoken questions and answers.  It is larger and may take a long time to download.  Again, you need to install Microsoft Office, or the (free) Powerpoint viewer to use it.  The viewer is the same as for version 2.