USCIS Issues Guidance Regarding Disclosure of Derogatory Information

Release Date 

06/12/2025

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual on how we disclose derogatory information upon which an adverse decision is based.

This policy guidance:

• States that, if we plan to rely on derogatory information that a benefit requestor is unaware of, we will generally provide a detailed description of the derogatory information in a Notice of Intent to Deny, Request for Evidence, or Notice of Intent to Revoke; and

• Clarifies when we may not disclose information, such as information that may be classified, sensitive, privileged, or otherwise subject to statutory protections and in other limited circumstances, such as when the information is provided in a third-party record or is subject to disclosure limitations.

This policy is effective upon publication and applies to pending benefit requests and those filed on or after the effective date.