Every applicant for naturalization goes through a background check before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will schedule an interview or approve a case. The check is not a single document. It is a combination of fingerprint submission, a records search run through the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and a legal review called the good moral character determination. Understanding each piece helps an applicant know what USCIS is actually looking at, and what to expect when filing Form N-400, Application for Naturalization.
The two federal checks behind every naturalization case
After USCIS accepts an N-400, it schedules the applicant for a biometric services appointment unless biometrics were already captured for a related filing. At that appointment, an applicant gives fingerprints, a photograph, and a signature at a USCIS Application Support Center. USCIS explains what to bring and what happens at the appointment in its own guidance on preparing for a biometric services appointment.
Those fingerprints are transmitted electronically to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division. The FBI searches its fingerprint based criminal history files and returns any matching arrest or conviction record to USCIS. This is a fingerprint match, not a guess based on a name, so a maiden name, a nickname, or a prior alias does not help a person avoid a hit tied to their fingerprints. USCIS also runs name based background and security checks against other federal databases as part of the same case review described in its N-400 filing instructions.
Good moral character: the legal standard behind the check
The fingerprint results feed into a separate legal question, whether the applicant meets the good moral character standard required for naturalization. That standard is defined in federal regulation at 8 CFR 316.10, which lists conduct that can show a lack of good moral character and conduct that automatically bars a finding of good moral character for a set statutory period, regardless of how minor the underlying offense might seem.
USCIS officers apply this regulation using the agency’s own internal guidance. The Policy Manual chapter on adjudicative factors for good moral character walks through the kinds of evidence an officer weighs, both favorable and unfavorable, and the chapter on conditional bars for acts in the statutory period lists the specific categories of conduct, such as certain crimes, false claims to citizenship, or failure to pay court ordered support, that can block a finding of good moral character even when the conduct did not result in a conviction.
Which records actually matter on the N-400
A common misunderstanding is that a dismissed charge, an expunged record, or an arrest that never led to a conviction does not need to be disclosed. The N-400 form asks about arrests, citations, charges, and convictions as separate questions, and it asks regardless of the outcome of the case. An applicant answers based on what happened to them, not on whether the record still shows up in a routine background check. Because the FBI fingerprint search can surface records an applicant forgot about or assumed were sealed, a mismatch between what a person disclosed and what the FBI search returns is one of the more common reasons a case is delayed for further review rather than approved on the standard timeline.
| Step | What it reviews | Primary authority or source |
|---|---|---|
| Biometric services appointment | Fingerprints, photograph, and signature capture | USCIS biometrics guidance |
| FBI fingerprint based check | Arrest and conviction records tied to the applicant’s actual fingerprints | FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division, run through USCIS |
| Name and security checks | Interagency database screening tied to the applicant’s biographic information | USCIS case processing procedures |
| Good moral character determination | Conduct during the statutory period, disclosure accuracy, and rehabilitation evidence | 8 CFR 316.10 and USCIS Policy Manual |
Requesting your own FBI record before you apply
An applicant who wants to see what the FBI’s fingerprint based system would return does not have to wait for USCIS to run the check. Federal regulation sets out a process for a person to request their own criminal identification record, often called an Identity History Summary, directly from the FBI. The rule describing the purpose and scope of this process appears at 28 CFR 16.30, and the section on how a subject can obtain, and if necessary challenge, the content of that record is at 28 CFR 16.34. The process requires the requester’s own fingerprints, confirming again that these records are indexed by fingerprint, not by name alone. Our related article on how a Live Scan fingerprint check reaches FBI and state repositories walks through how that fingerprint submission and matching actually works.
If a person finds an error in their own Identity History Summary, the same regulation describes the process for challenging and correcting it with the originating agency before it causes a problem in an immigration case, an employment case, or anywhere else the record might be pulled. Our guide on using an FBI Identity History Summary for work abroad covers the request and correction process in more detail for anyone who needs that record for a purpose other than naturalization.
What affects how long a case takes
USCIS does not commit to a fixed number of days or months for any N-400 case, and an applicant should treat any outside estimate the same way. Processing depends on factors that vary by local field office and by case, including how complete the original filing was, whether the biometric appointment needs to be rescheduled, whether the FBI fingerprint results come back clean or require manual review, and whether the officer needs additional evidence on a good moral character question. A case with a straightforward record generally moves through the same steps as one with a more complicated history, but a record that needs manual comparison or a request for additional documents will add steps to the review rather than skip them. Applicants can track their own case status and current office workloads directly through USCIS rather than relying on a general estimate.
Frequently asked questions
Does USCIS run a new FBI check for every naturalization applicant?
Yes. Even an applicant who had fingerprints taken for a prior immigration benefit is typically scheduled for a new biometric services appointment tied specifically to the N-400 case, and the fingerprints collected there are what USCIS sends to the FBI for that application.
Will an expunged or sealed charge show up?
It can. Expungement and sealing rules vary by state and do not automatically remove a record from every federal fingerprint based database. The N-400 instructions ask the applicant to disclose the underlying event regardless of expungement, which is why relying on an assumption that a record is gone is risky.
Can a name change or alias help someone pass the check?
No. The FBI search tied to naturalization is based on fingerprints, not on the name used on the application, so a different legal name or a past alias does not change what the fingerprint search returns.
What is the difference between the FBI check and the good moral character review?
The FBI check is a records search that returns factual matches tied to fingerprints. The good moral character review is a separate legal determination made by a USCIS officer under 8 CFR 316.10, using the FBI results along with the applicant’s own disclosures and any supporting evidence.
Can an applicant see their own FBI record before the interview?
Yes. A person can request their own Identity History Summary directly under the process described in 28 CFR 16.30 through 16.34, which also sets out how to challenge an error in that record with the agency that submitted it.
Does a single arrest automatically mean denial?
Not automatically. USCIS weighs the nature of the conduct, when it occurred relative to the statutory period, and other evidence in the case record. Some categories of conduct carry a conditional bar under federal regulation, while others are weighed case by case, which is why accurate disclosure on the N-400 matters more than guessing at the outcome.
Reveal Background provides FCRA compliant employment and tenant background screening and writes about how government background checks work as a public resource. Learn more at Reveal Background.
This article is general information about the naturalization background check process and is not legal advice. Anyone with questions about a specific immigration case should consult an immigration attorney or USCIS directly.
