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ConfirmedAs of September 5, 2026

In force now

USCIS can interview your neighbours and employer about a pending citizenship application

On 25 August 2026 USCIS updated its Policy Manual to reinstate what the guidance calls "personal investigations, also known as neighborhood investigations, under section 335(a)" for naturalisation. USCIS says it "is exercising its statutory authority in INA 335(a) to end the general waiver of neighborhood investigations" — a general waiver that had been in place for decades. The guidance "is effective immediately and applies to requests pending or filed on or after the publication date", so it reaches an N-400 that was already with USCIS before the update. Under this authority USCIS may make enquiries in the places an applicant has lived and worked, about matters including residence, character and conduct, and it decides case by case whether to waive that investigation.

What has not changed

The requirements for citizenship are unchanged. Nothing here alters the residence and physical-presence periods, the good moral character period, the English and civics tests, or the fee. Your pending application has not been paused, restarted or put to the back of a queue by this, and there is no new deadline attached to it. This is about how USCIS may investigate an application it already has, not about who qualifies. It concerns naturalisation only: it does not touch a green card application, an extension of status, or work authorisation. USCIS retains the discretion to waive the investigation in an individual case, and the character reference letters above are explicitly voluntary — not providing them is not a ground to refuse anybody.

What to do

There is nothing to file and no new form. The one thing USCIS names that an applicant can actually do is optional: the guidance says applicants "may voluntarily provide testimonial or character reference letters preferably from U.S. citizens who are not family members", and USCIS says it takes those into account when deciding whether to waive an investigation. If you have an N-400 pending and can reasonably ask a colleague, a neighbour or a community member who is a US citizen for such a letter, that is the lever this guidance gives you. Keep your address history accurate and consistent with what you have already filed.

Next update

When USCIS publishes further guidance on how widely these investigations are being conducted, or when the effect on naturalisation processing times becomes visible in its published figures.

Sources