USCIS Expands Background Checks with Next Generation Identification, Delays Green Cards

(UNITED STATES) — USCIS expanded background checks and AI-assisted vetting on April 27, 2026, delaying green card and citizenship cases by requiring applicants to resubmit fingerprints for enhanced FBI criminal history screening through the Next Generation Identification system.

No approvals can issue until those checks clear. The change affects new filings and pending cases in which FBI data had already been received before April 27, reaching adjustment of status applications on Form I-485 and naturalization cases on Form N-400.

The agency tied the change to an Enhanced Vetting Directive that took effect the same day. Under that directive, USCIS officers must resubmit fingerprint-based screenings for green cards, naturalization, asylum and family sponsorship petitions, using what the agency described as enhanced criminal history record information from the FBI.

That directive sits inside a wider overhaul announced on March 30, 2026. USCIS said that package included social media screening for “anti-American” views, automated biometric matching with real-time criminal alerts, added Department of State database checks, and Operation PARRIS for refugee and asylee re-interviews.

USCIS had already laid groundwork for the shift when it announced a Vetting Center on December 5, 2025, headquartered in Atlanta. The center centralizes screening through government databases, classified tools and AI systems used for fraud and threat detection, and it prioritizes applicants from “countries of concern“ under Executive Order 14161.

President Trump signed Executive Order 14385 on February 6, 2026, directing the Justice Department to maximize USCIS access to FBI criminal records. That order underpins the latest screening changes.

The people facing the sharpest effect include refugees and asylees seeking green cards after earlier checks, along with family-based and employment-based applicants, naturalization candidates and people with asylum cases. USCIS also assigned deeper scrutiny to applicants with national-security flags, fraud indicators, or ties to designated countries of concern.

Pending applicants are not receiving direct notices tied to the new screening requirement. Instead, they must monitor case status online while cases remain frozen until the new checks finish.

That creates immediate pressure for applicants whose work authorization may expire during the delay. No grace periods were noted, and the risk of status lapses rises when employment documents or temporary protections run out before USCIS completes the updated vetting.

Green card applicants on Form I-485 face a direct halt in finalization because the resubmitted fingerprints block approval until the FBI response returns through Next Generation Identification. Refugees and asylees appear to be the most exposed group, while family-based and employment-based applicants face slower timelines and more administrative processing.

Naturalization applicants on Form N-400 face a different mix of delays. Along with the new background checks, cases are also slowed by A-file retrieval problems, and some people who filed in 2020 still have not received a final decision.

Asylum and family petition cases are also caught in the new review structure. A previous asylum pause imposed in December 2025 was scaled back, but it still applies to 39+ countries.

USCIS has increasingly folded AI into its vetting work. Current uses include triaging fraud and security issues, classifying evidence, translating documents, matching biometrics through E-Verify and SAVE, and analyzing public data, including social media discrepancies involving employment history.

The newer applications go further, supporting threat identification and flagging inconsistencies across forms, travel records and address histories. USCIS has confirmed that it uses AI in the vetting process, but it has not released detailed rules governing how those systems operate.

That opacity has drawn criticism from outside the agency. Rumman Chowdhury, former U.S. science envoy for AI, warned that such systems can perpetuate bias if they are trained on discriminatory data and can restrict applicants through access to sensitive information.

The structure of the new process gives USCIS room to revisit more than fresh filings. The Atlanta-based Vetting Center can conduct supplemental reviews of pending cases and approved cases, using classified tools alongside database searches and automated matching.

Applicants from countries marked for priority review face the strongest chance of added delay, especially if case files contain fraud indicators or national-security concerns. USCIS built that priority model into the Vetting Center framework when it announced the unit last year.

A USCIS spokesperson, Zach Kahler, said the delays “should be brief and resolved shortly”. He did not attach a timetable, and the agency’s average processing is already 46% longer overall.

That leaves many applicants in a waiting pattern shaped by both policy and mechanics. Fingerprints that had already been taken now have to move back through enhanced FBI screening, and no case can close while that step remains open.

Work permits and temporary protections now carry more weight in cases that would otherwise have been near approval. Applicants with pending matters must keep those documents valid and renew them promptly if expiration dates approach while the case remains in review.

Administrative remedies remain limited but concrete. People with stalled applications can submit inquiries, seek help from the CIS Ombudsman, and turn to an immigration attorney when public records, travel history or other data points conflict with information in their filings.

Social media review adds another layer to a process that already combines fingerprints, file checks and database screening. USCIS said the broader overhaul includes searches for “anti-American” views, a phrase that places speech and online activity inside the same review frame as biometric and criminal history data.

The result is a wider definition of vetting than the one many applicants encountered when they first filed. Refugees and asylees who had already gone through prior screening, and applicants with long-pending family and employment cases, now face another pass through the system before any approval can issue.

USCIS has framed the changes as part of post-transition security priorities, using expanded FBI access, the Enhanced Vetting Directive, and AI-supported review tools in the same pipeline. With no direct notices going out to most pending applicants, the first sign of the policy for many people will be a case that stops moving while fingerprints, files and digital records cycle through the agency again.