By:  Richard Hanus, Esq.

August 27, 2025

For the vast majority of cases, the legal requirements for U.S. lawful permanent residents to naturalize and become U.S. citizens are not complicated.  If you a) have been a lawful permanent resident for five years (or 3 years for certain spouses of U.S. citizens), b) have resided in the U.S. for the majority of the five year (or three year) period leading up to your application, c) have no extended stays outside the U.S. (6+ months) during this qualifying period, d) pass an English and U.S. civics test and e) are otherwise law abiding and of “good moral character” for this period, you meet basic eligibility standards.   Earlier this month, however, U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Citizenship and Immigration Services (US DHS/CIS), announced a new policy confirming that the “good moral character” requirement now means more than merely demonstrating “the absence of misconduct”.   A close look at this new policy presents as many questions as it does answers, and exactly what this new initiative means for new applicants for naturalization remains to be seen.

The Policy Memorandum is dated August 15, 2025 and with a boldly stated subject line – “Restoring a Rigorous, Holistic and Comprehensive Moral Character Evaluation Standard for Aliens Applying for Naturalization”.     The memo goes on to elaborate on factors that can positively or negatively impact an applicant’s case, with immigration adjudicators instructed to “take a holistic approach in evaluating whether or not an alien seeking naturalization has affirmatively established that he or she has met their burden of establishing they are worthy of assuming the rights and responsibilities of United States Citizenship”.   In this regard, the decision-making focus will not simply be on the qualifying five or three year statutory period, but on the applicant’s “full story” and “complete history”.

On the positive side, adjudicators of N-400 applications will take into account an applicant’s:

  • record of community involvement or contributions in the U.S.
  • family ties in the U.S. including responsibility and/or caregiving to family members,
  • history of stable, lawful employment and achievements,
  • length of residence,
  • history of paying taxes and being “financially responsibility”

  On the negative side, adjudicators will apply more scrutiny to cases involving the following:

  • criminal background, ranging from serious felonies, to drug related violations to multiple driving under the influence of alcohol convictions,
  • multiple reckless traffic violations (not necessarily criminal offenses),
  • false claims to U.S. citizenship, unlawful voter registration or unlawful voting,

Applicants presenting a history of negative factors, will have the burden of showing, via the “totality of circumstances”, that they have been genuinely rehabilitated or have sufficient countervailing positive factors in order to satisfy the moral character aspect of the naturalization process.

The newly released memo emphasizes that applicant’s moral character will be evaluated on a case by case basis.  In light of the spirit and letter of this memo, it will be interesting to see how the new policy plays out, especially as applied to law abiding, blemish free, applicants and the degree to which they will be required to provide additional supporting documentation.  On the other side of the coin, where negative factors are at play, how much documentation will be enough for an applicant to prove to an immigration officer they have been rehabilitated or overcome past missteps?  Lastly, how will immigration officers deal with applications where the applicant committed an act or crime that could be considered to be a removable offense and a basis for deportation, but yet have also demonstrated that they have been rehabilitated or have present significant positive equities?

In concert with directives contained in their August 15 memo, U.S. DHS/CIS issued an additional memo on August 22, 2025 announcing the reimplementation of “neighborhood investigations” of naturalization applicants.   The use of such investigations are already authorized by current naturalization provisions, just that they have not been utilized as a part of the vetting process for more than 30 years.    Additional requirements for naturalization applicants may now include character testimonial letters from individuals in an applicant’s work and/or social communities, such as from employers, co-workers, business associates or neighbors.

While actual neighborhood investigations can be waived at the discretion of the interviewing officer in appropriate cases, new applicants are advised to submit several character reference letters when filing their applications, or at least at the time they appear for their interview.

Stay tuned for more details on the implementation on these policies. Further, it would not surprise me to see lawsuits filed to challenge the substance of the new process outlined in the August 15 memo, especially with regard to standards by which moral character scrutiny is being applied.

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