USCIS FBI Privacy Notices: What Applicants Need to Know About Continuous Vetting

Recently, many of our clients with pending U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) applications, including N-400 naturalization cases, have been receiving a document titled “FBI Privacy Requirements for Biometrics Collection by USCIS.”   This article explains why these notices are being issued and details the changing landscape of USCIS background checks.

Why You Are Receiving This Notice

If you recently received this notice, you are not alone. Under federal law (28 U.S.C. 534), all applicants whose biometrics (such as fingerprints and photographs) are collected for FBI criminal history checks must receive a formal notification explaining the purpose and routine uses of their applicant information. Furthermore, applicants must be notified of their Non-Criminal Justice Applicant’s Privacy Rights (28 C.F.R. § 50.12), which dictates how criminal history records are collected, used, and shared.

USCIS is currently in the process of upgrading its background check systems and they are actively enrolling pending applications into the FBI’s Continuous Immigration Vetting (CIV) process. Because of these internal system updates triggering new biometric enrollments in the continuous vetting system, USCIS sent out a mass wave of these legally mandated privacy notices starting September 2026 to ensure full administrative compliance.

Point-in-Time Vetting vs. Continuous Vetting (CIV)

The notice explicitly mentions that since 2017, USCIS has been transitioning away from point-in-time screening to an event-based process known as Continuous Immigration Vetting (CIV). But what does this mean in practice?

• Point-in-Time Vetting (The Old System): Historically, when an applicant submitted their fingerprints, the FBI ran a single, static background check at that exact moment in time. If the record came back clean, USCIS considered the background check cleared. If the applicant committed a crime after that fingerprint appointment but before their green card or citizenship was approved, USCIS might not know about it unless they explicitly requested a refreshed background check prior to the final interview.

• Continuous Vetting (The New System): Continuous Immigration Vetting (CIV) is an ongoing, event-based process that continuously checks criminal history records as required by the FBI. Under CIV, the applicant’s biometric data remains actively monitored in the FBI’s database. If an applicant is arrested or convicted of a crime at any point while their application is pending, the FBI’s system automatically flags the new event and sends a real-time alert to USCIS. This ensures that USCIS adjudicators always have the most up-to-date criminal history information without needing to order a completely new set of fingerprints.

What Do I Need To Do?

If you receive this notice, you do not need to take any further action at this time. The document is purely informational. As the notice states, you will receive a separate communication if USCIS needs any additional information or action from you.

Conclusion

Receiving an unexpected notice from USCIS can be stressful, but this particular letter is simply a standard administrative receipt designed to protect your privacy rights. Assuming you do not have any criminal history, the shift to Continuous Vetting is seamless and requires no action on your part.

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