USCIS recently announced an update to the agency’s Policy Manual, clarifying that violations of federal controlled substance law, including violations involving marijuana, are generally a bar to establishing good moral character for naturalization, even where that conduct would not be an offense under state law. The Policy Manual is the USCIS’s centralized outline repository for their immigration policies and is set to ultimately replace the Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM), the USICS Immigration Policy Memoranda site, and other policy repositories.
The updated Policy Manual clarifies that an applicant who is involved in certain marijuana-related activities may lack good moral character if found to have violated federal law, even if such activity has been decriminalized under state laws. This guidance, contained in Volume 12 of the Manual, is controlling and supersedes any prior guidance USCIS has issued on the topic. With many U.S. states and the District of Columbia having enacted laws that decriminalize the manufacture, possession, distribution, and use of both medical and non-medical marijuana, USCIS notes that U.S. federal law still classifies marijuana as a “Schedule I” controlled substance whose manufacture, distribution, dispensing, or possession may lead to serious immigration consequences. Medical use of marijuana is legal in 33 U.S. states and the District of Columbia; recreational use of marijuana is legal in 10 states and the District of Columbia; and 14 states have decriminalized. Nonetheless, the Policy Manual makes clear that marijuana-related violations, whether established by an actual conviction or an admission, would generally be a bar to showing good moral character, which is required before one can become a naturalized U.S. citizen. Thus, despite the trend towards legalization by U.S. states, marijuana violations can still create a bar to naturalization. Such violations under foreign laws can similarly impede naturalization (See our article on the legalization of marijuana in Canada here.) Marijuana-related violations can also potentially impact one’s access to other immigration benefits outside of naturalization, including admission as a nonimmigrant or the ability to obtain a green card pursuant to the regulations at INA 212(a) discussing grounds for inadmissibility.