[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-310157-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-310157-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","transforming-the-path-to-citizenship-since-2011-naturalization-policy-in-the-first-year-of-the-trump-administration-what-changed-and-what-to-expect","Transforming the Path to Citizenship since 2011 - Naturalization Policy in the First Year of the Trump Administration - What Changed and What to Expect","","This brief analyzes key naturalization policy and practice shifts during the first year of the Trump administration and explains their implications for lawful permanent residents eligible to naturalize. It summarizes changes affecting access to citizenship, including adjudication pauses for certain nationalities, heightened scrutiny and enforcement risks, greater barriers linked to USCIS guidance and memoranda, and a more demanding civics test. It also reviews naturalization denial trends and service capacity reductions, highlighting emerging risks and what to expect ahead.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/transforming-the-path-to-citizenship-since-2011-naturalization-policy-in-the-first-year-of-the-trump-administration-what-changed-and-what-to-expect/310157/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/transforming-the-path-to-citizenship-since-2011-naturalization-policy-in-the-first-year-of-the-trump-administration-what-changed-and-what-to-expect/310157.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Terk","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-09-20",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",14,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What does the report say about access to naturalization during the first year of the Trump administration?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Access to citizenship is narrowing despite statutory eligibility remaining unchanged. The report points to increased difficulty driven by policy and practice changes affecting adjudications, testing, and risk during the process.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What changes are described in USCIS guidance that may affect denials?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The report describes new NTA guidance for deportable naturalization applicants, updated policy on the N-648 disability waiver, and memoranda that change how good moral character and neighborhood investigations are assessed. It links these shifts to increased opportunities to doubt eligibility and discretionary denials.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How did the naturalization civics test change and what impact does it have?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The civics test was updated to require answers to up to 20 questions from a list of 128, with 12 correct answers needed to pass. The report notes this increases difficulty and preparation burdens, including reports of receiving the new test even after application submission before the deadline.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},310157,1789875879,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,120,123,127],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":126},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":130},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":132},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":133,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":33,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":80,"read_time":124,"preview_page_count":4},1099525198933,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Transforming the path to citizenship since 2011  \nNaturalization Policy in the First Year of the Trump Administration  What Changed and What to Expect   \nINTRODUCTION  \nThe New Americans Campaign (NAC) is the leading national collaborative devoted to increasing naturalization, working with hundreds of organizations across the country to expand access to U.S. citizenship through direct services, capacity-building, and policy advocacy. Drawing on the experience of frontline practitioners, public data, and national trends, NAC monitors and analyzes federal policies that shape access to naturalization.  \nDuring the first year of this Trump administration, naturalization has faced a series of policy and practice changes that have made accessing U.S. citizenship more difficult. With approximately nine million eligible-to-naturalize lawful permanent residents (LPRs) in the United States, understanding these developments is critical to ensure future access to U.S. citizenship.  \nThis brief offers an overview of a few key policy changes affecting naturalization over the last year, examines available naturalization data, and highlights emerging trends to watch in the year ahead.  \nKEY TAKEAWAYS  \n• Access to citizenship is narrowing despite unchanged statutory eligibility.  \n• Although more than 840,000 people naturalized last year, naturalization denials increased almost 15% in 2025.  \n• Recent policy changes and USCIS data suggest 2026 may bring significantly longer wait times, higher denial rates, and increased risk for some applicants.  \n• Now is the time to invest in and expand naturalization services to ensure that the nine million eligible LPRs can access U.S. citizenship.  \nPAUSE ON NATURALIZATION ADJUDICATIONS  \nIn December 2025, the administration announced a hold on all immigration benefits requests, including naturalization, for nationals of 40 countries on a travel ban list. Applicants from these countries received notices of cancelled interviews and oath ceremonies. While LPRs from these countries can still apply for naturalization, there is no timeline for when the pause will end. Some applicants from other countries have experienced interview and oath ceremony postponements and cancellations, often with no explanation, creating confusion and delays.  \nNew Americans Campaign 1 March 2026  \nHEIGHTENED SCRUTINY AND ENFORCEMENT RISKS  \nIn February 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new Notice to Appear (NTA) guidance directing officers to issue an NTA (the first step in initiating removal proceedings) to deportable naturalization applicants. This was a change in policy from the Biden Administration, which occasionally approved deportable applicants with strong positive equities, and generally did not issue an NTA upon naturalization denials.  \nIn June 2025, USCIS updated its Policy Manual with new guidance on the N-648 disability waiver, which exempts certain applicants from the English and/or civics test requirements for naturalization. Along with several practice changes, USCIS broadened the permissible reasons to doubt the validity of the waiver, giving officers more opportunities to second-guess medical diagnoses and deny the request.  \nIn August 2025, USCIS issued a memo announcing significant changes to how the agency assesses whether applicants meet the good moral character (GMC) requirement for naturalization. The memo stated that,“Going forward, USCIS officers must account for a [noncitizen’s] positive attributes and not simply the absence of misconduct.” The implementation of this memo has been unclear and inconsistent, raises concerns about potential abuse of discretionary denials, and probably will lead to an increase in naturalization application denials based on GMC.  \nLater in August 2025, USCIS released a memo on the resumption of personal investigations (also called neighborhood investigations) for naturalization applicants, which have not been implemented in over 30 years. Thes","cbCaioCXjkoWfhPo","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaioCXjkoWfhPo","pdf",413153,"English","# Introduction\n# Key Takeaways\n# Pause on Naturalization Adjudications\n# Heightened Scrutiny and Enforcement Risks\n# Changes to the Naturalization Civics Test\n# Reduced Service Capacity and Emerging Barriers","[{\"question\":\"What does the report say about access to naturalization during the first year of the Trump administration?\",\"answer\":\"Access to citizenship is narrowing despite statutory eligibility remaining unchanged. The report points to increased difficulty driven by policy and practice changes affecting adjudications, testing, and risk during the process.\"},{\"question\":\"What changes are described in USCIS guidance that may affect denials?\",\"answer\":\"The report describes new NTA guidance for deportable naturalization applicants, updated policy on the N-648 disability waiver, and memoranda that change how good moral character and neighborhood investigations are assessed. It links these shifts to increased opportunities to doubt eligibility and discretionary denials.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the naturalization civics test change and what impact does it have?\",\"answer\":\"The civics test was updated to require answers to up to 20 questions from a list of 128, with 12 correct answers needed to pass. The report notes this increases difficulty and preparation burdens, including reports of receiving the new test even after application submission before the deadline.\"}]","Transforming the Path to Citizenship since 2011 - Naturalization Policy in the First Year of the Trump Administration - What Changed and What to Expect | PDF"]