The Trump administration has significantly slowed the naturalization process, with 73% fewer citizenship applications decided over the past year.
These delays are leaving thousands of immigrants waiting longer to become U.S. citizens.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ latest quarterly data show it decided around 71,000 cases between April and June 2026, compared to around 265,000 during the same period last year.
Good news for green card applicants impacted by the 39-country ban.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that it has resumed processing immigration applications for nationals from 39 countries after a federal court ordered the agency to halt policies that had frozen adjudications for months.
However, the government has already filed an appeal, meaning the future of these cases remains uncertain.
The case, Dorcas v. USCIS, challenged several USCIS policies that had suspended the processing of green card applications, work permits, naturalization applications, and certain asylum cases for individuals from designated countries. A federal judge ruled that these policies were unlawful and ordered USCIS to resume normal processing.
Importantly, the court’s decision requires USCIS to process applications, not automatically approve them. Applicants must still meet all eligibility requirements under existing immigration laws. Additionally, separate travel restrictions and other immigration policies remain in effect.
On September 18, 2025, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the implementation of a newly revised civics test for naturalization applicants, known as the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test.
This updated version builds on the 2020 test—and will replace the existing 2008 civics examination for most applicants.
The civics test remains a key component of the naturalization process, intended to evaluate an applicant’s knowledge of U.S. history, government, and civic responsibilities. While the English language portion of the test remains unchanged, the civics section has been updated to improve clarity and educational relevance.
What’s New & What’s the Same
Key Changes in Test Procedure
On Friday August 15th, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new policy memorandum (PM-602-0188) increasing the scrutiny of applications for U.S. citizenship, as part of the Trump administration’s latest efforts to tighten eligibility for naturalization.
Specifically, USCIS has directed immigration officers to evaluate additional factors when assessing whether applicants demonstrate “good moral character,” a key requirement for naturalization, alongside passing English and civics tests.
The requirement of “good moral character” is typically met when applicants have no criminal history or have not engaged in conduct that would disqualify them from U.S. citizenship, such as committing violent crimes or aggravated felonies.
Friday’s policy memorandum however expands this determination stating that the “good moral character” assessment must involve more than a “cursory mechanical review focused on the absence of wrongdoing.” The expanded policy will now require “a holistic assessment of an alien’s behavior, adherence to societal norms, and positive contributions that affirmatively demonstrate good moral character.”
This directive mandates greater scrutiny of factors that could show a lack of “good moral character,” which go beyond the crimes and disqualifying conduct previously taken into consideration by USCIS.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, published on July 25th the new director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Joseph Edlow told reporters that the agency is planning sweeping changes to the way the agency awards visas for H-1B high-skilled workers in specialty occupations.
Under current provisions, USCIS conducts a random lottery to select enough applicants to fill the government’s annual H-1B visa quota of 85,000 visas. But that may all soon change.
As we reported last week, the government has been quietly advancing efforts to reform the H-1B visa selection process. On Thursday last week, the Department of Homeland Security submitted a proposed rule—RIN 1615-AD01, titled “Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking to File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions” aimed at significantly restructuring the selection system for cap-subject H-1B specialty occupation visas. The proposal is now under review by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
It has not yet been made public, but once approved, the government is required to publish the proposed rule in the Federal Register for public comment as part of the formal rulemaking process.
SSN Updates for New N-400 Applicants
If you have been thinking of applying for U.S. Citizenship, you may be pleased to learn that starting April 1st applicants will have the option of requesting an original or replacement Social Security number (SSN) or card and have the chance to update their immigration status with the Social Security Administration (SSA), without having to visit an SSA office in person.
This is all part of the new edition of Form N-400, Application for Naturalization (edition date 04/01/24) which will allow these requests to be made when submitting the application with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Previously, green card holders were required to visit an SSA office in person to notify them of their new U.S. Citizenship status and apply for a replacement SSN card reflecting their new immigration status.
Unfortunately, this new update only applies to applicants filing the new edition of the N-400 application (04/01/24) on or after April 1st. Those who applied using the previous edition of the form (09/17/19) cannot take advantage of this option.
When will the new edition of the N-400 be available for use?
The new edition of the Form N-400 (04/01/24) will be available for online filing on April 1.
To file Form N-400 online, applicants must first create a USCIS online account, a convenient and secure method to submit forms, pay fees, and track the status of any pending USCIS immigration request throughout the adjudication process.
H-1B FY 2025 Cap Season Updates: What to Expect
You may be aware that the electronic registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap season closed at noon Eastern on March 25, 2024.
Within the next few days, USCIS will conduct a lottery to randomly select within the pool of properly submitted registrations to reach the FY 2025 H-1B annual numerical allocations, including the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap). USCIS will notify the public once the lottery has been completed.
On January 30, 2024, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule in the Federal Register making significant fee increases for various immigration applications and benefit requests. This fee increase will be the first major adjustment in the filing fees since 2016. The increase is meant to address the agency’s operational and financial challenges to support the timely processing of new applications.
The fee increase will take effect starting April 1, 2024. All applications postmarked after this date will be subject to the fee increases in the final rule.
TIP: To avoid paying the higher fees, USCIS must receive applications before April 1, 2024.
Highlights
According to recent data released by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), applications for U.S. Citizenship surpassed pre-pandemic levels in fiscal year 2023, welcoming 878,500 new citizens from all over the world.
To be eligible for naturalization, applicants must meet certain eligibility requirements set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
The requirements generally include being a lawful permanent resident (LPR) for at least five years or at least three years for spouses of U.S. Citizens. Applicants must establish that they have good moral character, have continuously and physically resided in the United States as a green card holder, be proficient in basic spoken and written English, pass the required civics and English examination, among other requirements. Please note that there are other special naturalization provisions that exempt certain applicants, including certain spouses of U.S. citizens and applicants with military service, from one or more of the general requirements for naturalization.
Did you know? U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that online account holders can take advantage of a new tool called “myProgress.”
“MyProgress” allows applicants to view personalized estimates of approximate wait times for major milestones and actions taken on their cases including final case decisions. These estimates are provided based on case type and historical patterns. They do not guarantee time frames and do not take into account external factors that can prolong the processing of applications.
Who can take advantage of this new tool?
Online account holders who have the following applications pending with USCIS can use the “myProgress” tool:
In this blog post, we give you an update on the status of the proposed rule increasing the filing fees for certain applications and petitions filed with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
As you may remember, on January 4, 2023, USCIS published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register proposing an increase in the filing fees of many types of applications, including but not limited to, the I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, N-400 Application for Naturalization, I-129F petition for alien fiancé(e), Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative, Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Permanent Residence, Form I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker for H, L, and O classifications, Form I-526 Immigrant Petition for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization, among many others.
The proposed rule also sought to do the following:
Under the Administrative Procedure Act, before the government can implement a proposed rule they must abide by a mandatory notice-and-comment rule-making process. This includes offering a public comment period of at least 60 days from the date of the NPRM’s publication in the Federal Register.
Visa Lawyer Blog