After 35-year pause, US may restart neighbourhood investigations for citizenship applicants

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is bringing back the possibility of neighbourhood and workplace checks for people seeking US citizenship, ending a broad waiver that had kept the practice largely inactive for decades.

The agency will now decide whether such an investigation is needed in individual naturalisation cases. The checks could involve an applicant’s neighbours, employers, co-workers or business associates and may be used to assess their residence history, conduct and eligibility for citizenship. US-based immigration lawyer Rajiv Khanna highlighted the change in a LinkedIn post.

“USCIS is exercising its statutory authority in INA 335(a) to end the general waiver of neighborhood investigations. Resumption of the neighborhood investigations helps USCIS ensure that aliens applying for naturalization meet statutory requirements, including, but not limited to, full attachment to the principles of the U.S. Constitution and disposition to the good order and happiness of the United States,” USCIS said, according to Khanna’s post.

What is INA 335(a)?

INA 335(a) is a provision of US immigration law that gives the government authority to investigate people applying for naturalisation before granting them citizenship.

The provision covers the places where an applicant has lived, worked or conducted business during the five years before filing the citizenship application. It also allows the government to waive the investigation in individual cases or categories of cases.

Had neighbourhood checks stopped?

Neighbourhood investigations had largely stopped in practice, although the legal requirement remained.

The former Immigration and Naturalization Service had essentially stopped conducting the checks by 1991. USCIS later generally waived them and relied mainly on FBI fingerprint checks, criminal-history records and other security checks.

The latest move does not create a new investigation power. Instead, USCIS is seeking to use an authority that has remained in the law but has not been widely used for decades.

What does the move mean?

Ending the general waiver means USCIS can decide, on a case-by-case basis, whether an applicant needs to undergo a neighbourhood or workplace investigation.

This does not mean every naturalisation applicant will automatically face a visit or interviews with neighbours. It means USCIS will no longer broadly treat the investigation requirement as waived.

The agency may seek information from neighbours, employers, co-workers or business associates who know the applicant. It may also consider character-reference or testimonial letters while deciding whether an investigation is necessary.

The move could lead to closer scrutiny of an applicant’s residence history, employment history, conduct and character. It could also require some applicants to provide additional documents or information, potentially extending the time needed to complete their cases.

USCIS said the investigations would help it assess whether applicants meet the legal requirements for naturalisation. These include good moral character, full attachment to the principles of the US Constitution and a disposition towards the good order and happiness of the United States.