The policy, issued in a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) memo on Friday, directs the agency to conduct a more comprehensive and “holistic” assessment of applicants’ “good moral character,” including by accounting for applicants’ “positive attributes and not simply the absence of misconduct.”

The new guidance gives U.S. immigration officers wide berth to deny immigrants benefits, including green cards and citizenship.

The Trump administration is expanding the requirement for immigrants who are hoping to become US citizens to display “good moral character,” in a move that some immigration lawyers denounced as a troubling change that adds uncertainty to the naturalization process.