USCIS Tightens Citizenship Test Over Family Support and Benefits
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has told its officers to look more closely at family support, public benefits and sponsorship promises when deciding whether a green card holder applying for citizenship has shown good moral character.
The agency issued Policy Memorandum PM-602-0201 on November 4, 2026. It sets out how officers handling Form N-400, the Application for Naturalization, should weigh an applicant’s conduct on three issues: support for dependents, fraud or deception involving public benefits, and obligations taken on under an Affidavit of Support or a Declaration of Financial Support.
Good moral character is a legal requirement for naturalization, the process by which a lawful permanent resident becomes a United States citizen. A finding that an applicant lacks it can lead to the application being denied.
What officers may now weigh
Under the memo, an officer may find that an applicant lacks good moral character in three situations described by the agency.
The first is wilfully failing to support dependents — a person who was required to support family members chose not to do so. The second is committing fraud or deception involving public benefits. The third is failing to meet obligations taken on under an Affidavit of Support, in the Form I-864 family, or a Declaration of Financial Support, in the Form I-134 family.
The memo also says a dependent’s use of means-tested benefits may, depending on the circumstances, be evidence that the applicant failed to support that dependent. Means-tested benefits are public programmes that look at a person’s income and resources, such as some food, cash and health assistance.
Lawful benefit use is not a bar
USCIS was also clear about one limit. The agency said that lawful receipt of means-tested public benefits, by itself, is not a bar to naturalization and is not always a negative factor. A denial cannot rest on poverty or disability, and each case gets an individualised review.
Financial difficulty or the lawful receipt of government assistance does not automatically disqualify someone from becoming a United States citizen, the agency’s guidance makes clear. The memo focuses instead on fraud, deception and unmet support duties.
A five-year window, judged case by case
The period officers normally examine is the five years before an application is filed. For certain spouses of United States citizens, that period is three years. Conduct before that period may also be considered when it is relevant to an applicant’s present moral character.
Officers must decide each case individually, and the standard of proof is preponderance of the evidence — in other words, whether it is more likely than not that the applicant has shown good moral character.
The memo builds on an August 2025 USCIS memorandum that told officers to judge good moral character holistically, weighing past wrongdoing against rehabilitation and positive contributions. That earlier guidance moved the review away from a simple checklist of disqualifying acts towards a totality-of-circumstances analysis.
What happens next
USCIS said it will write new guidance in its Policy Manual and will revise Form N-400 to collect information about public benefit use and the support of dependents. The agency gave no date for when the new guidance or the revised form will appear.
The memo also arrives weeks after a broader public charge rule for applicants seeking a green card. For Form I-485 filings on or after September 18, 2026, USCIS guidance lets officers weigh a wider range of means-tested public benefits, not only cash assistance, when deciding whether someone is likely to become a public charge.
Immigration lawyers say applicants should expect more requests for evidence and extra documentation as officers apply the new guidance. Those with questions about child support, sponsorship promises or benefit use may want to seek legal advice before filing.
