Good Moral Character, Unlawful Voting, and False Claim to U.S. Citizenship in the Naturalization Context

Key changes

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is revising policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual on false claims to U.S. citizenship (including those made during the voter registration process), unlawful registration to vote, and unlawful voting in the naturalization context as part of USCIS’ implementation of recent executive orders.
• Affirms that USCIS considers an alien to have falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen, if the alien affirmatively indicates that he or she is a U.S. citizen. If the alien registered to vote, the alien has the burden to prove that the registration form did not contain a question about whether the alien is a U.S. citizen or that the alien did not indicate, in response to such a question, that he or she is a U.S. citizen.
• Provides that an alien who falsely claims to be a U.S. citizen for any purpose or benefit, including registering to vote, will be issued a Notice to Appear (NTA) under the deportability ground INA 237(a)(3)(D)(i), unless he or she meets the limited exception in INA 237(a)(3)(D)(ii).
• Provides that an alien applying for naturalization who has voted in violation of any federal, state, or local constitutional provision, statute, ordinance, or regulation will be issued an NTA under INA 237(a)(6)(A), unless he or she meets the limited exception in INA 237(a)(6)(B).
• Provides that after an NTA, USCIS generally denies the naturalization application under INA 318 based on the existence of pending removal proceedings against the alien, except for applications for naturalization based on military service.