The Trump administration proposed a dramatic increase in naturalization application fees on Monday, May 22, raising the filing fee for Form N-400 from $760 to $1,330 - a nearly 75% increase. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the cost of filing Form N-400 is set to increase from $760 to $1,330 for paper filings and $710 to $1,280 for online submissions. The fee structure would apply to both paper filings at $1,330 and online applications at $1,280, representing increases of 75% and 80% respectively from the previous rates. As reported by The New York Times, the rule would end the reduced fee option for Form N-400, which is currently available to immigrants whose household income is at or under 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, and would also eliminate fee waivers for the form. A DHS official told Newsweek that the changes were part of a periodical adjustment of fees, as the current charge does not cover all the costs of processing applications. The agency stated that the proposed changes would recover the full costs associated with adjudicating these forms, noting that the current fees do not recover the full cost of thoroughly adjudicating applications for naturalization, including necessary screening and vetting checks. The proposed rule says current fees do not fully cover the 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."
The proposed changes extend beyond naturalization applications, affecting multiple immigration categories including employment authorization applications, humanitarian immigration benefits, asylum-related filings, adjustment-of-status processes, and certain family-based immigration applications. As reported by Business Standard, DHS has already increased premium-processing fees for several immigration categories in 2026, with Form I-140 premium processing rising from $2,805 to $2,965. The government argues that higher fees are necessary to support immigration adjudications, improve processing systems and maintain operational capacity. According to The New York Times, DHS stated that the proposed changes would recover the full costs associated with adjudicating these forms, noting that the current fees do not recover the full cost of thoroughly adjudicating applications for naturalization, including necessary screening and vetting checks. The agency argues that this will improve efficiency and reduce misuse of the system, saying that low- or no-fee filing options can encourage ineligible applicants to apply. The Trump administration has increased vetting for those applying for lawful permanent residence -- or a green card -- and for citizenship, including doing social media checks for those applying. Becoming a U.S. citizen is a lengthy process that requires not only a green card or to be married to a U.S. citizen, but also a full background investigation, an interview and passing a civics test, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The proposal particularly affects Indian immigrants, who form one of the largest foreign-born communities in the US and represent one of the largest groups waiting for employment-based green cards. According to Business Standard, many Indian immigrants spend years navigating the immigration system through H-1B visas and employment-based sponsorship processes, with citizenship often representing the final milestone after significant financial investment. Higher application costs could add to existing burdens including visa filing fees, legal expenses, adjustment-of-status costs, and travel documentation charges. As reported by Newsweek, the changes would affect hundreds of thousands of lawful permanent residents each year, potentially delaying naturalization for lower-income immigrants and shifting more of USCIS's operating costs directly onto applicants. Immigration experts expressed concerns that the proposed rule would increase the financial burden on people seeking U.S. citizenship, potentially putting naturalization out of reach for some immigrants. Rosanna Berardi, an immigration lawyer based in Buffalo, New York, told ABC News that the proposed rule is entirely consistent with the Trump administration's broader message of making legal immigration harder, more expensive, and less accessible, noting that when you simultaneously raise fees, eliminate waivers, and add new vetting layers like neighborhood checks and expanded 'good moral character' scrutiny, you are not streamlining a system. You are building walls inside it.
The fee structure includes significant changes to appeal processes and fee waivers. According to the Department of Homeland Security, fees to appeal a citizenship denial would jump by approximately 78 percent, from $830 to $1,475 for paper appeals and $780 to $1,425 for online appeals. The fee waiver process for citizenship cases will be eliminated entirely, with immigrants who fall below 400% of the federal poverty level able to pay just $380 for the service. The only exception to the fees would be active military personnel. This represents a substantial shift from the current system where fee waivers were available to qualifying applicants, potentially making citizenship more accessible for some while increasing costs for others. The proposed changes would also affect Form N-336, which is used for citizenship appeals, with fees increasing by approximately 78% from the current rate. As reported by ABC News, the rule would also eliminate most fee waivers but current and former armed forces members would remain exempt from paying the fees. The rule would be enacted at least 60 days from posting after it goes through a public comment period.
The proposed rule does not have an immediate impact on filing fees, as reported by Business Standard. USCIS is accepting public comments on the proposal for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register. The agency is required to give meaningful consideration to public feedback, though there is no minimum or maximum period for this review stage. The final version of the rule could be published with an implementation period of 30 or 60 days after publication. It's not yet clear when or if the increases would go into effect; the proposed rule would still have to go through a process—including a period during which the public is permitted to submit their opinions on the proposal—before it could be enacted. The rule has not yet taken effect, as DHS published it as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which means it is open to public comment before any final decision is made. According to ABC News, the rule would be enacted at least 60 days from posting after it goes through a public comment period. Current fees ($760 paper, $710 online for N-400) remain in place throughout this process, with no confirmed effective date for the increase. USCIS is funded by fees paid during the process, and not through tax dollars.
Immigration law firm Fragomen noted that the proposal would increase naturalization fees by 75%, eliminate fee waivers, and remove the reduced-fee option currently available to qualifying applicants. According to Business Standard, immigration advocacy group CLINIC has previously warned that fee increases and restrictions on fee waivers can disproportionately affect lower-income immigrants and may discourage eligible applicants from pursuing citizenship. Rosanna Berardi, an immigration lawyer based in Buffalo, New York, told ABC News that the proposed rule is entirely consistent with the Trump administration's broader message of making legal immigration harder, more expensive, and less accessible, noting that when you simultaneously raise fees, eliminate waivers, and add new vetting layers like neighborhood checks and expanded 'good moral character' scrutiny, you are not streamlining a system. You are building walls inside it. The rule is explicitly designed to shift the system to a 'full-cost, beneficiary-pays' model, requiring applicants to cover the full cost of processing their citizenship applications. As reported by Newsweek, Adam Klein, a former Department of Homeland Security official and co-founder of Globali.ai, noted that the proposal represents a significant shift in the cost of becoming a U.S. citizen, stating that substantially increasing naturalization fees risks turning citizenship into a benefit that is less accessible to those of modest means. The rule acknowledges that naturalization was 'the most significant' immigration benefit which can be given to an immigrant, but critics argue that eliminating waivers could disproportionately affect low-income immigrants, raising barriers to citizenship.
