USCIS Updates Policy Guidance: Citizenship Obtained Unlawfully May Be Revoked Even Without Knowledge
This article discusses USCIS's August 20, 2025 policy guidance update, citing the 2019 Matter of Zhang decision, emphasizing that citizenship obtained through fraud or abuse of the immigration system may be revoked even if the individual claims ignorance. It reviews the case background and notes USCIS's resumption of strict vetting procedures to identify foreigners, including those falsely claiming U.S. citizenship.
If citizenship was obtained unlawfully, it can be revoked even if the person claims not to have known. This principle comes from a 2019 decision involving a Chinese man. On August 20, 2025, USCIS updated its policy guidance, revisiting the old case as a warning to others. What exactly happened in this case? Hello everyone, I'm Derek, and in this episode we'll discuss it.
Today, the immigration service issued a notice stating that it "is restoring rigorous screening procedures to identify foreigners who seek to obtain unlawful benefits by deceiving or abusing the immigration system, including those who falsely claim to be U.S. citizens." In the past, foreigners could raise "lack of cognitive or legal capacity" as a defense—put simply, that they too were victims, that they were deceived and did not know the conduct was unlawful, so ignorance excused them. But the immigration service specifically emphasized that, under the 2019 Matter of Zhang decision, being "ignorant" cannot serve as a defense. So what is Matter of Zhang about?
