USCIS charges the exact same filing fee no matter where you live. A citizenship application costs $760 whether you're filing from Jackson, Mississippi or Washington, D.C. But a new study makes the case that "same fee" and "same burden" are two very different things — and the gap between them is bigger than most people assume. On August 4, 2026, CitizenPath published its inaugural 2026 U.S. Immigration Affordability Index, the first study to translate the real, all-in cost of