U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced several important changes to how they will administer the naturalization (citizenship) process.
All applicants who file their citizenship applications after October 18, 2025, will now be required to answer 12 out of 20 U.S. history and civics questions (from a list of 128) instead of 6 out of 10.
USCIS will be reviving the 2020 version of the US history and civics test. (More information about the revived test is available here)
USCIS has announced that naturalization applicants will be required to demonstrate positive actions or contributions in order to prove they have “good moral character.” Previously, good moral character was determined based on whether an applicant had some disqualifying acts (such as criminal history). Now, USCIS has stated it will look at activities or attributes such as “community involvement,” “family caregiving, responsibility, and ties,” “stable and lawful employment history and achievements” “compliance with tax obligations and financial responsibility” or “educational attainment” as just some examples. There is not enough information available on how USCIS will be assessing these factors in the future. More information about these changes is available here.
These community alerts are provided courtesy of Catholic Charities Maine’s Immigration Legal Services. For additional information, please refer to the USCIS links cited.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that after October 28, 2025, it will no longer accept money orders or paper checks for filing fees. After October 28, USCIS will only accept payments by credit or debit card or electronic debits from a bank account. Instead of sending a check, you will need to fill out and send a form with your application. You can use form G-1450 to pay by credit card, or form G-1650 to pay by electronic check. If you do not have a credit card or a U.S. bank account, you may be able to get a prepaid credit card and use that to pay filing fees.
These community alerts are provided courtesy of Catholic Charities Maine’s Immigration Legal Services. For additional information, please refer to the USCIS links cited.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced that it will strictly enforce the rule that immigrants have to register or re-register with the federal government. You may already be registered. Use the Alien Registration Requirement Determination Tool to see if you need to register or re-register.
For immigrants who do not have green cards: information about registration requirements can be found at the link above. You may be required to file a Form G-325R.
A special note for parents of children with green cards:
If your child was older than 14 years of age when they received their green card, they are already registered. You do not need to do anything.
If your child was under 14 years of age when that child received their green card, they are registered, but must re-register! Children who have turned 14 must re-register within 30 days of their birthday.
You can re-register your child by completing and submitting a Form I-90 to US Immigration (USCIS). Remember that anyone 14 and older has to sign their own forms. A link to the form with instructions can be found here.
Look carefully at the application fees. The amount of the fee depends on whether your child’s card will expire before or after their 16th birthday.
After they receive the I-90 application, USCIS will schedule an appointment at their office, and they will take new biometric data (photographs and fingerprints).
These community alerts are provided courtesy of Catholic Charities Maine’s Immigration Legal Services. For additional information, please refer to the USCIS links cited.
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