U.S. Citizenship Applications Drop Sharply in 2025 Amid Stricter Reviews
U.S. citizenship applications dropped sharply in 2025, starting high in January but falling dramatically by December. The government increased scrutiny of naturalization applications, making the approval process much harder.
The year 2025 became one of the most unstable periods ever for people trying to become U.S. citizens. Many people successfully gained citizenship early in the year, but by December, far fewer were making it through the process.
The main problem was stricter government reviews of applications. Officials began examining citizenship requests much more carefully, leading to longer waits and more rejections. People lost trust in the system as the rules seemed to keep changing.
As of March 2025, about 536,000 citizenship applications were stuck in the system waiting for approval. The average wait time was 5.5 months, but that doesn't include the additional delays from the stricter reviews.
The government also announced major changes to the citizenship process, including new fees that took effect in March 2026. These fees were raised based on inflation from June 2023 through June 2025.
If you or someone you know is trying to become a U.S. citizen, it's now taking longer and getting rejected more often. This affects millions of people waiting to vote, travel freely, and gain full rights as Americans.
Watch for more policy changes and longer wait times for citizenship applications in 2026.
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