Will USCIS Check My Criminal Background If I Apply for Citizenship?

If you are a U.S. green card holder who takes the next step and applies for U.S. citizenship ("naturalization"), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is going to check your criminal background. The idea is to make sure you are not a threat to the security of the United States. In order to do this, USCIS collects applicants' fingerprints and asks other government agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), whether they have any information about anyone matching those fingerprints.

Below, we'll discuss:

• how this background check is carried out
• how the results might affect your application for U.S. citizenship, and
• what to do if you have any negative information on your record.

U.S. Citizenship Application Process Includes a "Biometrics" (Fingerprints) Requirement

USCIS will ask you to provide "biometrics," including fingerprint records, as part of its background check process on all applicants for naturalization. That's true even if you're over the age of 75 and didn't have to pay an added fee for biometrics. (Currently, the only other biometric information that USCIS gathers are photographs of you, plus your signature.)

A few weeks after getting your application for naturalization, USCIS will send you a notice in the mail asking you to appear for fingerprinting at one of its application support centers (ASCs); most likely the one closest to where you live.

If you don't show up for your biometrics appointment without good cause and without notifying USCIS, your application for naturalization is considered abandoned and you will have to reapply and pay a new fee.

If You Are Physically Unable to Attend a Biometrics Appointment

All USCIS application support center facilities are accessible to applicants with disabilities. If you are unable to attend any biometrics appointment because of a disability, or if you're in the hospital or unable to leave your house, USCIS will make special arrangements to take your biometrics.

You have to let USCIS know about your situation and request that someone from USCIS come to you. Call the USCIS customer service line at 800-375-5283 (TDD: 800-767-1833). (You will have to make your way through a lot of automated voice prompts, however; it's best to start in the morning in case USCIS wants to schedule a call-back with you.) Be ready: USCIS might ask for a copy of the appointment notice and medical documentation verifying the need for an in-home or in-hospital appointment.

If You Can't Be Fingerprinted

USCIS won't need to fingerprint you if you are unable to provide fingerprints because of a medical condition, birth defect, physical deformity, skin condition, or psychiatric condition. A USCIS officer responsible for overseeing applicant fingerprinting will decide whether you can be fingerprinted or not.

That officer will have to meet with you in person and try to take your fingerprints first. The officer won't give up just because, for instance, you have fewer than ten fingers, or if the officer thinks your fingerprints will be "unclassifiable" (unable to be read clearly), or ​if your condition is temporary.

If you truly can't be fingerprinted, you'll have to provide local police clearance letters from everywhere you've lived during the period of good moral character that applies to you. Usually this is the five years before you applied, or three years if you're applying for citizenship on the basis of marriage to a U.S. citizen. You will also need to give a statement under oath about any criminal background you have in the period of good moral character.

Screening Your Name Through FBI Checks

Once it has your biometric information on file, USCIS will submit this to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for a full criminal background check. The FBI has a National Name Check Program (NNCP) that does a search for names to see whether they appear in any personnel, administrative, applicant, or criminal files compiled for law enforcement purposes.

You can't have your naturalization interview with USCIS until the FBI name check is complete and you've been cleared.

The FBI will determine either that you have no administrative or criminal record, that you do have such a record, or that it doesn't know because it can't read your fingerprints​.

The results of the name check are considered good for 15 months. If USCIS hasn't given you citizenship by that time, you will have to wait for the FBI to do another name check.

Consider Effect of Any Criminal Record on Citizenship Before Applying

Rather than waiting for USCIS to check your record and then follow up (in the worst case, by placing you into deportation proceedings), it's wise to do your own advance research if you have ever had any run-ins with law enforcement officials. Even if you think a case was dismissed, expunged, or otherwise doesn't "count" on your record, it's worth having an attorney research the matter thoroughly.

The most serious crimes will permanently bar you from U.S. citizenship and various other crimes or legal violations will block or delay your qualifying for citizenship. An experienced attorney can help you figure out whether it's safe to apply at this time. Fortunately, in some cases, it's safer to apply if you wait a few years first.

Getting Legal Help

For tips on getting the professional assistance you need, see How to Find a Good Immigration Lawyer For Your Case.