The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a major policy shift that restores a rigorous and holistic approach to evaluating ‘good moral character’ (GMC) of foreign nationals applying for American citizenship.
To illustrate: Driving under influence could impair your eligibility, but if you have skipped on taxes – but subsequently coughed up your dues this could be a redeeming factor. Or if you have good educational qualifications and job stability, this too could score you brownie points.
The policy memorandum, issued on Aug 15, emphasizes that US citizenship is more than a legal benefit—it represents a profound transformation into active and responsible membership in American society.
In fiscal 2024 (year ended Sept 30), 8.18 lakh foreign nationals acquired US citizenship. Mexicans led with as many as 1.07 lakh becoming American citizens (13% of the total), this was followed by Indians, with a little over 49,000 (or 6% of the total) acquiring US citizenship. The trend was similar to earlier years, Indians are the second largest contingent to acquire US citizenship.
Going forward, those aspiring to become US citizens will be subjected to the new policy guidelines. Titled – ‘Restoring a rigorous, holistic and comprehensive good moral character evaluation standard for aliens applying for naturalization (citizenship)’, under it USCIS officials will no longer treat GMC as a simple checklist of disqualifying offenses. Instead, they are directed to consider the ‘totality of circumstances’, weighing both negative conduct and positive contributions.
The policy highlights that while certain offenses—such as murder, aggravated felonies, torture, or genocide—remain permanent and unconditional bars to naturalization, officials must now also assess evidence of rehabilitation and reformation in other cases.
“The regulations and policy affirm that GMC findings must go beyond the absence of disqualifying acts—it must reflect a genuine positive assessment of who the applicant is and how they have lived in their community,” the policy states.
Positive attributes and contributions such as sustained community involvement and contributions in the US; family caregiving, responsibility, and ties in the US; educational attainments; stable and lawful employment history and achievements; length of lawful residence in the US, compliance with tax obligations and financial responsibility in the US will carry greater weight. .
At the same time USCIS officials will scrutinize behaviours inconsistent with civic responsibility, including repeat driving under influence convictions, false claims to citizenship, unlawful voting, and even patterns of reckless or disruptive conduct.
Immigration attorneys are largely of the view that a move away from a rule-based model to a more discretionary one may be a slippery slope. Eligibility results could vary based on the subjective discretion of the official vetting the application and could result in lack of uniformity across cases.
In general individuals can apply for US citizenship, after they have been lawful permanent residents (green card holders) for at least five years. A Chicago based Indian family that was examining the possibility of applying for citizenship told TOI, “Years ago, when we initially moved to the US, both of us faced tax disputes owing to interpretation of the India-US tax treaty. This could be a blot on our record.”
Loss of jobs during the pandemic and non repayment of interest or principal amount against loans could also be issues that come up for many aspirants during processing of citizenship applications, they point out.
However, there appears to be a ray of hope. For applicants with past ‘wrongdoing’ , USCIS officials will look for concrete evidence of rehabilitation, including repayment of taxes, compliance with court-ordered conditions, or testimony from community members. According to the policy guidelines, such evidence may support a finding of good moral character even where negative history exists, provided no permanent bar applies.
It may be recalled that Joseph Edlow, who was confirmed as director of USCIS in July, told NY Times in an interview that the current US citizenship test is “too easy”—noting that many applicants can simply memorize answers and pass without true understanding. This is another change that could be on the anvil.