Pass Your 2026 CBP Exam on the First Try: Officer and Border Patrol Agent

Both are CBP entrance exams, but the parts differ. The Officer exam has three parts: the Candidate Experience Record (60-minute online questionnaire), the Writing Skills Test (63-minute computer-adaptive), and the Logical Reasoning Test (83 minutes at a testing center). The Agent exam has two parts: the Experience Record and the Logical Reasoning Test. There is no writing test on the agent exam. Both use the same type of Logical Reasoning Test and both require a rating of 70 to pass.

Exactly two parts: the Experience Record (an at-home background and experience questionnaire) and the Logical Reasoning Test (a proctored, computer-adaptive test of reasoning and judgment). There is no Spanish section and no Artificial Language Test on the entrance exam. Both moved to the Border Patrol Academy after hire.

No. Spanish is no longer on the Border Patrol entrance exam. The requirement moved entirely to the Border Patrol Academy, where new agents receive 200+ hours of Spanish instruction after they are hired. You do not need Spanish to pass the entrance exam.

A rating of 70 or higher is required to advance, on both the CBP Officer exam and the Border Patrol Agent exam. Veterans' preference points can be added to a passing rating.

Both exams are the main screening gate of the hiring process. Roughly 25 to 30 percent pass the Officer exam, and roughly 40 to 52 percent pass the Agent exam. In both cases the Logical Reasoning Test is where most candidates are screened out, and it is the most trainable part.

You must be a U.S. citizen, hold a valid driver's license, and have lived in the U.S. for at least three of the last five years. Border Patrol Agent applicants must be referred for selection before their 40th birthday, with waivers for certain veterans and for applicants who have prior federal law enforcement service. Both roles carry a firearm, so a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction is a bar. Common disqualifiers include recent drug use, felony convictions, and serious unresolved financial issues. The course opens with a full eligibility and disqualifier checklist so you know you qualify before you invest. CBP makes the final determination: confirm your situation at careers.cbp.gov.

They use the same type of computer-adaptive Logical Reasoning Test: a short passage of facts, a positive or negative lead-in, and five answer choices. The reasoning method is identical, which is why the same practice prepares you for both. The officer exam adds a Writing Skills Test that the agent exam does not include.

Drill one habit: draw conclusions using only the facts in the passage, never outside knowledge. Read the lead-in first, map the passage facts, test each choice against the passage alone, and avoid the five traps: quantity creep, reversed conditionals, outside knowledge, unstated cause, and the interesting-but-unsupported conclusion.

The Pre-Employment Fitness Test (PFT-1) has three components: 25 sit-ups in 60 seconds, 20 push-ups in 60 seconds, and a step test stepping up and down a 14-inch step at a cadence of 120 steps per minute. Standards are the same for every applicant, and CBP provides a 6-week readiness program.

The pre-academy process (entrance exam, structured interview, fitness test, polygraph, medical exam, and background investigation) typically runs 12 to 18 months. Academy training follows: FLETC for officers, and the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, New Mexico for agents, including 200+ hours of Spanish.

No. PrepTerminal is a fully independent test preparation service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. We reference CBP and Border Patrol names under nominative fair use to describe the exams we help you prepare for.