U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has formally ended the blanket waiver of neighborhood investigations for naturalization applicants. In Policy Alert PA-2026-10, issued August 25, 2026, the agency updated Volume 12 of the USCIS Policy Manual to reinstate personal investigations under section 335(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The guidance is effective immediately and applies to applications already pending as well as those filed on or after the publication date.
Neighborhood investigations are a tool that predates most current applicants. Section 335 of the INA of 1952 authorized the government to investigate naturalization applicants in the communities where they live and work. By 1991, the legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service had abandoned the practice, relying instead almost entirely on FBI criminal history checks and other database security screening to assess an applicant’s good moral character. That reliance is what USCIS has now reversed.
Under the new guidance, USCIS may seek information from neighbors, employers, co-workers, and business associates who know the applicant. The stated purpose is to corroborate eligibility across several statutory requirements at once: continuous residence, good moral character, attachment to the principles of the U.S. Constitution, and being well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States. USCIS says these investigations surface what it calls unrehearsed observations that interviews and submitted documents cannot provide.
The decision to conduct or waive an investigation is not automatic. USCIS’s Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate, working with the Field Operations Directorate, makes that call based on an individualized and discretionary review of the applicant’s record, or by designating entire classes of cases. USCIS retains discretion to waive the investigation where it determines a waiver is appropriate.
The policy alert cites Executive Order 14159 and Executive Order 14161 as its basis, specifically the provisions directing a uniform baseline for screening and vetting of anyone seeking an immigration benefit, and maximum-degree vetting of noncitizens already inside the United States. USCIS also notes that Director Edlow issued a related policy memorandum, PM-602-0189, on August 22, 2025, and that the agency has already conducted a number of neighborhood investigations since then. The August 25 alert makes the shift permanent policy rather than a memo-level practice.
USCIS addressed the reliance question directly, stating that applicants have no reliance interest in the prior blanket waiver, and that even if such an interest existed, the agency’s interest in robustly enforcing the INA would outweigh it. Practically, applicants with a pending Form N-400 should expect that the agency may contact people in their personal and professional orbit, and should ensure the residence and employment history on their application is complete and accurate for at least the five-year statutory period.
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Source: USCIS Policy Manual Updates