Citizenship Application Fees Could Nearly Double Under DHS Proposal
The Trump administration wants to hike fees for immigrants seeking to become U.S. citizens, saying the current pricing structure does not cover the cost of the adjudication process.
In a proposed rule published in the Federal Register, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed increases in fees for immigrants filing Form N-400, the application for naturalization with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The cost of paper filings would rise from $760 to $1,330 while the cost of online filings would rise from $710 to $1,280.
The administration also wants to end the reduced fee option, which is currently available to immigrants whose household income is at or under 400 percent of Federal Poverty Guidelines. Fee waivers would be ended, with an exception for servicemembers.
The administration says current fees do not recover the “full cost of thoroughly adjudicating applications for naturalization, including necessary screening and vetting checks, which USCIS is continuously enhancing consistent with the President’s Executive Orders.”
DHS noted that previous administrations kept citizenship fees relatively low to encourage naturalization. However, the Trump administration is going a different way.
"Although DHS has historically limited the fees for (citizenship-related applications) to fulfill previous administrations' priorities of encouraging naturalization, DHS no longer believes naturalization benefit requests should get lower fees at the potential expense of other immigration benefits," stated the agency.
Comments Due
Critics meanwhile questioned the change.
"The only credible explanation for jacking up citizenship fees in isolation is that Trump 2.0 is in a hurry to create even more undue barriers for legal immigrants,” said former USCIS official Doug Rand, who served in the Biden administration.
Comments on the proposal are due on or before August 24, 2026.
