Citizenship Clinic Update: January 2026

What we’ve learned since we began 18 months ago—and what we continue to do today.

Requests for Assistance | Charts | Active Cases | FOIA Requests | Completed Cases | Countries Represented

Note: the vast majority of cases began in November 2024, shortly before and after the presidential election. Requests for services and accepted cases were fairly low between July 1, 2024, and mid-November 2024. In addition, some requests involve two separate cases. Numbers are constantly subject to change, with new cases accepted every week.

• 1 request to renew Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The client is also currently involved as a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging the termination of TPS for the specific country being terminated;
• 2 requests to re-open previously denied N-600 Applications for a Certificate of Citizenship (related to denials that occurred when the adoptee was a minor)
• 2 requests to adjust status to secure a green card through a US citizen spouse (I-485). One is pending a decision; the other is being held up by an administrative “hold” impacting nationals from 19 countries, which includes the client’s country of birth;
• 4 requests for assistance in applying for or renewing a US passport or securing a changed name or date of birth on a new passport.
• 6 requests for advice on international travel and whether their current citizenship documents are sufficient;
• 8 requests to renew an expired green card (I-90), more recently reflecting clients who choose to renew a green card instead of seeking naturalization under the current administration;
• 15 requests that are new or are still being investigated to determine next steps and an overall strategy. Many (but not all) of these are complex cases where the adoptee does not have US citizenship or lawful status due to missteps or neglect by adoptive parents.
• 15 requests for legal representation to apply for naturalization (N-400). Three are have now become US citizens, though five clients have their naturalization cases because of the current administration.
• 18 requests that were closed because the applicant did not respond after an intake or the matter was outside the scope of the citizenship clinic
• 29 requests solely for representation to obtain USCIS records through a FOIA request. Two of those are now involved in appeals on account of unlawful redaction and removal of information from the immigration records;
• 43 requests to apply for a replacement citizenship document (N-565). Twelve now have new certificates, while 30 are either waiting on the USCIS decision (24) or determining if they wish to file for the replacement certificate (6), largely because of the $505 filing fee.
• 59 requests for brief advice, generally to confirm immigration/citizenship status, to recommend or review citizenship or immigration documents, or to advise on international travel;
• 111 requests for legal representation to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship (N-600). Forty-six new certificates have been approved and issued, while we are waiting on 63 cases to be filed or approved by USCIS. Two cases involve decisions whether to move forward or to hold off on filing.

• 1 renewal of Temporary Protected Status;
• 2 applications for adjustment of status (I-485), one filed and one in process.
• 2 involving advice only on pending cases that the clinic did not file;
• 4 intakes that are currently in process;
• 5 green card renewals (I-90);
• 4 cases that only involve a request for USCIS records (FOIA), though these cases often result in representation for securing proof of US citizenship.
• 4 cases involving brief advice only;
• 8 cases involving applications for naturalization (N-400), though the current immigration environment may impact whether to file such cases;
• 14 cases that are still being investigated or are on hold to determine next steps
• 31 applications for a replacement certificate (N-565)
• 64 cases involving applications for a Certificate of Citizenship (N-600), with 34 of those cases currently pending with USCIS, 9 in the process of being drafted, and the remaining cases involving gathering of documents to support the application.

These include active cases as of January 1, 2026. It omits any cases that do not involve direct legal representation. Many applications are still in the process of being drafted and reviewed; i.e., not all cases included here have been filed.

• the average number of days from the date of filing the FOIA request to the release of records is 46, slightly higher than earlier reporting, though a number of cases in 2025 took longer than 70 days and as long as 86 days from application to release;
• 3 FOIA requests were rejected or denied because the file could not be found;
• 3 FOIA requests were rejected or denied because they were deemed “duplicates,” though this was not true;
• 2 FOIA requests are currently pending, down substantially from prior reporting, largely because of the futility of requesting records that come with substantial redactions and empty pages;
• 15 FOIA denials or releases have been appealed because of redactions and removal of information from the file;
• 127 FOIA requests resulted in records being released. Nevertheless, as reported here and depicted in the chart below, since approximately mid-April the redactions and withholding of information from clients’ USCIS “A Files” have increased enormously, with more than 80 percent of the pages often being redacted or entirely withheld from the file.

• 2 Green Cards renewed
• 8 Replacement Certificates of Citizenship approved and issued
• 3 Certificates of Naturalization approved and issued
• 18 cases that only involved a request for USCIS records (i.e., a FOIA request)
• 25 files closed after no response or follow up from the adopted person
• 42 Certificates of Citizenship approved and issued (4 more have been approved and are awaiting the oath of allegiance to receive the certificate)
• 54 cases involving advice only, including five matters providing advice and assistance specifically related to international travel

Countries with more than one client include Costa Rica (2); El Salvador (2); Jamaica (2); Peru (2); Honduras (3); Thailand (3); Kazakhstan (4); Romania (4); Ethiopia (7); Haiti (6); Ukraine (7); Colombia (8); Guatemala (8); Mexico (8); Vietnam (11); and India (13).

World Map of Clients

Client Residence

Charts

Illustrative explanations of issues we are now seeing with clinic cases.

Redaction and Removal of “A File” Records

As explained in more detail here, USCIS is now heavily redacting and removing records from client “A Files” (the immigration files for intercountry adoptees/immigrants). Since approximately mid-April 2025, the vast majority of records are now being redacted or removed entirely from the file.

Processing Times for N-600 Applications

The time to approve and issue an N-600, from filing to issuance of the Certificate of Citizenship, is currently averaging 164 days, or roughly 5-6 months. The fastest issuance of a COC was 62 days, issued in September 2025. The slowest so far was 336 days, or nearly a year after it was filed in October 2024. Many cases are still pending, and of those still active, the oldest case has been pending for more than 325 days.