On September 14, 2026, USCIS issued policy alert PA-2026-13, which reorganizes its internal guidance on when a case gets referred for revocation of naturalization. It took effect immediately. If you’re already a citizen or preparing an N-400, the most useful thing to know is what changed and, above all, what didn’t.

What USCIS says

The alert reorganizes Volume 12, Part L of the Policy Manual and renames it, from “Revocation of Naturalization” to “Loss of U.S. Nationality and Revocation of Naturalization.” Chapters 1 and 2 are rewritten in full, and the contents of Chapter 3 move into Chapter 2.

What the alert adds in practice:

  • For any pending or future petition or application associated with a U.S. citizen, USCIS determines whether that person lawfully obtained citizenship.
  • It sets out the circumstances under which USCIS refers a case for revocation, and which cases get prioritized.
  • It covers the burden of proof required, with examples of grounds for referral.
  • It clarifies that if someone is denaturalized, USCIS may review petitions that person filed on behalf of other beneficiaries.

This is the key point. The alert itself states that the updated guidance does not otherwise change the circumstances under which a naturalized citizen is subject to revocation. It reorganizes existing guidance; it doesn’t set a new standard.

What didn’t change

The legal standard hasn’t changed. Under section 340(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, naturalization may be revoked where it was procured illegally or procured by willful misrepresentation or concealment of a material fact.

Two words carry the whole thing:

  • Willful. Not an oversight, a mix-up, or a good-faith mistake.
  • Material. It has to be a fact that would have changed the outcome, not any stray detail.

There are two separate routes: civil revocation under section 340 and criminal revocation under 18 U.S.C. 1425. Both require the government to prove its case in court.

Who this affects

The alert affects naturalized citizens whose file shows signs of illegality or willful misrepresentation. It also affects, indirectly, anyone with a petition filed by a naturalized citizen, because USCIS checks the lawfulness of that naturalization as part of the process.

The alert itself acknowledges that the vast majority of people who naturalize do so lawfully. If you told your story as it is, this changes nothing in your daily life.

What to do

Nothing urgent, and nothing that wasn’t already good practice:

  • Keep a copy of what you filed. Forms, supporting documents, and the certified translations with their certificates of accuracy. If anything ever needs explaining, it’s much easier with the file in front of you.
  • Keep your documents consistent with each other. If your birth certificate, passport, and application spell your name differently, that difference can be explained. What doesn’t work is quietly “fixing” it on one of them.
  • If you have a specific question about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. This is information, not legal advice, and an individual case needs someone looking at the whole thing.

If you need translations

A naturalization file almost always rests on civil documents issued in another language: birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, police records. The translation is what the officer reads, so it has to say exactly what the original says.

A translation error isn’t the kind of problem this alert deals with. The standard requires willfulness, and a careless or incomplete translation isn’t that. The point is simpler: a complete, accurate translation keeps what you filed in line with what your documents say, with no gaps to explain later.

In practice, it comes down to three things:

  • The whole page is translated, including seals and margin notes.
  • Names and dates appear exactly as they do in the original.
  • The translation comes with a signed certificate of accuracy.

This matches what 8 CFR § 103.2(b)(3) already asks for with any foreign-language document filed with USCIS.

If your case includes police records from another country, our guide to the Colombian judicial records certificate uses an example to show why the names often don’t match the passport, and why the translation reflects that instead of correcting it.

Sources

Notice

Fidelis Certified Translations is an independent translation service, not affiliated with USCIS or any U.S. government agency. This content is for information only and is not legal advice. For your case, talk to an immigration attorney.

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