USCIS announces new “good moral character evaluation standard” for Naturalization applicants

On August 15, 2025, released a policy memorandum, “Restoring a Rigorous, Holistic, and Comprehensive Good Moral Character Evaluation Standard for [Noncitizens] Applying for Naturalization.” This guidance directs USCIS adjudicators to focus more explicitly on positive evidence of good moral character in addition to the consideration of any negative evidence, such as a criminal history. USCIS states that its new approach to determining good moral character (a requirement for becoming a U.S. Citizen) “will empower USCIS officers to review the complete history of aliens seeking naturalization, where no regulatory or statutory bars exist, and require such aliens 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.” 

We expect that immigration advocates will challenge this new evaluation standard as being beyond USCIS’s authority to enforce and for being a violation of noncitizens’ due process rights. 

Read the policy memorandum here.