USCIS Resumes Neighborhood Investigations for Naturalization
PM-602-0189
USCIS Director Edlow issued a policy memorandum on August 22, 2025 reviving personal ('neighborhood') investigations under INA 335(a) — a discretionary tool, unused since 1991, letting USCIS interview neighbors, employers, or others in an applicant's community to help corroborate residency, good moral character, and other naturalization eligibility factors, covering at least the 5 years before filing.
Published
2025-08-22
Summary
USCIS Director Edlow issued a policy memorandum on August 22, 2025 reviving personal ('neighborhood') investigations under INA 335(a) — a discretionary tool, unused since 1991, letting USCIS interview neighbors, employers, or others in an applicant's community to help corroborate residency, good moral character, and other naturalization eligibility factors, covering at least the 5 years before filing. USCIS formalized this in the Policy Manual effective August 25, 2026, moving from automatically waiving these investigations to deciding case-by-case.
Current status
A neighborhood investigation, when used, is one discretionary corroboration tool among several an officer may draw on — it doesn't by itself indicate a problem with an application, and most applicants still won't have one conducted. There's no published, reliable way to predict in advance whether a specific case will get one.
Source: USCIS Policy Manual: Investigations and Examinations for Naturalization Eligibility
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