These new approaches will empower USCIS officers to review the complete history of applicants seeking naturalization or discretionary immigration benefits.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has recently issued a series of changes in policy and practice that could make it significantly harder for some people to acquire U.S. citizenship and lengthen the processing times for all applicants. While there have only been isolated anecdotal reports of changes so far in how naturalization interviews are being conducted, we expect more noticeable changes in the coming months.

These changes include:

• An August 15, 2025, policy memorandum titled "Restoring a Rigorous, Holistic, and Comprehensive Good Moral Character Evaluation Standard for Aliens Applying for Naturalization." This policy represents a fundamental shift in how USCIS evaluates good moral character (GMC) for naturalization applicants, moving from a checklist-based approach to a comprehensive "totality of circumstances" evaluation.
• An August 22, 2025, policy memorandum reintroducing neighborhood investigations of naturalization applicants to corroborate their eligibility for U.S. citizenship.
• A September 17, 2025, announcement of a new naturalization civics test, which will be administered to applicants who submitted their applications on or after October 17, 2025.

Similarly, on August 19, 2025, USCIS announced updates to its policy manual expanding officers’ discretionary authority for certain immigration benefits requests, directing them to give “significant negative discretionary weight” for “anti-American” ideologies or activities. While these policy manual changes do not directly affect the naturalization process, we expect that anti-American ideologies will be considered when determining whether the applicant “has been and continues to be attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States and favorably disposed toward the good order and happiness of the United States” as required by the regulations at 8 CFR 316.11.

Practical Implications

For Pending Applications

• Applicants should review the contents of their social media presence.
• Applicants should be prepared to provide comprehensive documentation of positive contributions to their communities.
• Those with past issues should gather evidence of rehabilitation and reformation.
• Enhanced scrutiny may result in longer processing times and more detailed interviews.

For Future Applications

• Permanent residents should proceed with caution if they are concerned about some aspect of their background.
• Prospective applicants should begin documenting community involvement, volunteer work and civic contributions.
• Financial responsibility, including tax compliance and child support obligations, will be closely scrutinized.
• Even minor infractions may receive greater attention under the new standards.
• Individuals applying for discretionary benefits or naturalization should consider a thorough pre-filing review of personal and public records, including social media posts.
• Processing delays may increase, and more pronounced geographic differences in adjudicatory standards may arise based on differences in the “standards of the average citizen in the community of residence,” 8 CFR 316.10(a)(2).

Documentation Recommendations

• Community service records and volunteer work documentation
• Employment history and achievements
• Educational certificates and accomplishments
• Tax compliance records
• Evidence of family responsibilities and caregiving
• Character references from credible community sources
• Documentation of any rehabilitation efforts for past issues

Naturalization: Key Changes

Naturalization Civics Test

On September 17, 2025, USCIS announced the implementation of the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test. This new test is a reimplementation of the 2020 test with some modifications. The new test will increase the number of questions from 10 to 20, randomly drawing from the same bank of 128 questions used for the 2020 test. Officers will orally ask 20 questions until the applicant passes (correctly answers 12 questions) or fails (incorrectly answers nine questions).

The new test is now administered to applicants filing their naturalization applications on or after October 17, 2025. For applicants who qualify for special consideration because they are age 65 or older and have resided in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident for at least 20 years, USCIS will continue to administer a test with 10 questions from a specially selected bank of 20 test questions.

Holistic Assessment Approach

USCIS now emphasizes that evaluating GMC "involves more than a cursory mechanical review focused on the absence of wrongdoing" and "entails a holistic assessment of [the applicant’s] behavior, adherence to societal norms, and positive contributions that affirmatively demonstrate [GMC]."

Going forward, USCIS officers must account for an applicant's positive attributes and not simply the absence of misconduct, taking a holistic approach in evaluating whether a permanent resident seeking naturalization has affirmatively established that they are worthy of assuming the rights and responsibilities of United States citizenship.

Enhanced Focus on Positive Attributes

USCIS will place greater emphasis on an applicant's positive attributes and contributions in GMC determinations, including:

• Sustained community involvement and contributions in the United States
• Family caregiving, responsibility and ties in the United States
• Educational attainment
• Stable and lawful employment history and achievements
• Length of lawful residence in the United States
• Compliance with tax obligations and financial responsibility in the United States

Increased Scrutiny of Disqualifying Behavior

USCIS will focus greater attention on whether the applicants have engaged in any behavior or act that disqualifies them from being found to be a person of good moral character, including:

Permanent bars: Murder, aggravated felony, crimes of violence, persecution, genocide, torture or severe violations of religious freedom.

Conditional bars: Controlled substances violations, two or more convictions for driving under the influence, false claim to U.S. citizenship, unlawful voter registration or unlawful voting.

Other disqualifying acts: Any other acts that are contrary to the average behavior of citizens in the jurisdiction where the applicant resides, including actions that, while technically lawful, may be inconsistent with civic responsibility within the community, such as reckless or habitual traffic infractions, or harassment or aggressive solicitation.

Rehabilitation and Reformation Considerations

USCIS will focus greater attention on ensuring that applicants who have engaged in wrongdoing are properly rehabilitated and reformed, with evidence of genuine rehabilitation potentially supporting a finding of GMC, including:

• Rectifying overdue child support payments or other family obligations
• Compliance with probation or other conditions imposed by a court
• Community testimony from credible sources attesting to the applicant's ongoing GMC
• Reformation or mentoring those with similar past
• Full repayment of overpaid benefits such as Social Security income
• Full payment of overdue taxes

Historical Context

Before the early 1990s, officers of what was then the Immigration and Naturalization Service determined GMC broadly through a model that treated the bars in Immigration and Nationalization Act Section 101(f), 8 USC 1101(f), as minimum disqualifiers—not as exclusive criteria—considering rehabilitative evidence, volunteer service, family responsibilities and other positive traits in weighing GMC. However, legislative changes beginning with the Immigration Act of 1990 and later the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 pushed the policy toward a firm checklist that equated GMC with the absence of statutory disqualifications rather than the presence of positive moral conduct and character.

Legal Standard

INA Section 316(a)(3), 8 USC 1427(a)(3), requires that an applicant for naturalization "has been and still is a person of good moral character" during the statutory period, with USCIS determining whether the applicant has met the GMC requirement on a case-by-case basis using the preponderance of evidence standard.

GMC findings must go beyond the absence of disqualifying acts and must reflect a genuine positive assessment of who the applicant is and how they have lived in their community, with GMC generally meaning a character commensurate with the standards of average citizens of the community in which the applicant resides.

Immigration Benefits: Key Changes to Discretionary Analysis

Many, but not all, immigration benefits requests require the favorable exercise of discretion to grant the benefit. For cases where discretion is involved, meeting the statutory and regulatory requirements alone does not entitle the requestor to the benefit sought. The act of exercising discretion involves the weighing of positive and negative factors and considering the totality of the circumstances in the specific case. In their discretionary analysis, officers generally consider factors such as the applicant’s value and service to the community, length of time in the United States, criminal history, public safety concerns and other indicators of a requestor’s character.

The recent update from USCIS directs officers to now consider whether the beneficiary has engaged in anti-American views. USCIS may review a beneficiary’s social media for content by or about the beneficiary that promotes anti-American views. According to the announcement, anti-American activity will be an “overwhelmingly negative” factor. “Anti-American activity” includes the endorsement, promotion, support or espousing of the views of a terrorist organization or group, including those who support or promote anti-American ideologies or activities, antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations and antisemitic ideologies in any case involving an exercise of discretion.

Benefits requests that require an exercise in discretion include, but are not limited to:

• EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa
• EB-2 National Interest Waiver
• Fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen
• I-539 Applications to extend or change nonimmigrant status
• Humanitarian parole
• Temporary protected status
• Asylum
• Adjustment of status
• Waivers of inadmissibility
• I-765 Employment Authorization

Conclusion

These new approaches will empower USCIS officers to review the complete history of applicants seeking naturalization or discretionary immigration benefits. In the context of naturalization applications, where no regulatory or statutory bars exist, such applicants will have to present their full story, demonstrating how their life aligns with a pattern of behavior that is consistent with the current ethical standards and expectations of the community in which they reside. In the context of discretionary immigration benefits, requestors should be aware that officers may now examine social media activity, affiliations and potential indicators of anti-American ideologies or associations.

These policy changes represent a significant shift that will require more comprehensive preparation for naturalization applications and increased awareness of how certain behaviors can result in the denial of an immigration benefits request. Applicants, whether pursuing naturalization or other benefits, should prepare by reviewing their social media postings and gathering documentation of their positive contributions and community involvement well in advance of filing their applications.

For More Information

If you have any questions about this Alert, please contact Ted J. Chiappari, M. Alejandra Vargas, Isabella Castellon Lebron, Guilherme Massetti, any of the attorneys in our Immigration Law Group or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Disclaimer: This Alert has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.