Becoming a U.S. Citizen Is About to Cost 80% More. And If You Can't Afford It, There's No Longer a Waiver

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Becoming a U.S. Citizen Is About to Cost 80% More. And If You Can't Afford It, There's No Longer a Waiver

Description: DHS proposes raising the N-400 naturalization fee from $710 to $1,330 — an 80% increase — and eliminating all income-based fee waivers. The rule isn't final yet. Here's what it means, who it hits hardest, and why you should file NOW.

N-400 naturalization fee increase 2026 how much will citizenship cost fee waiver eliminated.

There are two pieces of news buried in a Federal Register notice published on June 23, 2026. The first is that the Department of Homeland Security wants to make becoming a U.S. citizen 80% more expensive. The second — and the one that matters more — is that DHS wants to eliminate the financial safety net that has made citizenship accessible to hundreds of thousands of lower-income immigrants for decades.

The proposed rule is not final. It hasn't taken effect. You can still file your N-400 today at the current fee. But the direction is clear, the comment period closes August 24, and the rule could take effect before the end of the year.

If you are eligible to naturalize and you have been waiting — for the right moment, for the paperwork to come together, for the uncertainty to clear — the uncertainty is now resolved. The moment is now.

The Numbers: What DHS Is Proposing

Form	Current fee (paper)	Proposed fee (paper)	Increase	Current fee (online)	Proposed fee (online)	Increase
N-400 (Naturalization)	$760	$1,330	+75%	$710	$1,280	+80%
N-336 (Appeal after denial)	$830	$1,475	+78%	$780	$1,425	+83%
Reduced fee (income ≤400% FPL)	$380	Eliminated	—	—	—	—
Fee waiver (I-912, hardship/benefits)	Available	Eliminated	—	—	—	—
Military exemption	Exempt	Still exempt	—	—	—	—

The $50 online filing discount is preserved — but applied to a dramatically higher base. For most people, the choice between online and paper is irrelevant to whether they can afford the application at all.

The hardest hit group: low-income applicants who currently qualify for the $380 reduced fee. For them, the proposed increase is not 80%. It is 250% — from $380 to $1,330.

What DHS Says It's Doing — And Why

DHS frames the entire proposal around three words: "beneficiary-pays" principle.

The argument is straightforward: USCIS is 94% fee-funded. Congress does not appropriate general tax revenue to cover the cost of processing immigration applications. That means every form USCIS processes must be paid for by the people filing it. Naturalization, DHS argues, has been artificially subsidized for decades — priced below the actual cost of adjudication — with the difference quietly shifted onto other immigration benefit applicants paying for their own H-1B, I-485, or other forms.

The agency says the full cost of processing a single N-400 is approximately $1,107 per application based on its 2026-2027 biennial review. At $710-$760, USCIS was collecting less than 70 cents of every dollar it spent. The new proposed fees would bring collection to approximately full cost recovery.

DHS also points to recent executive orders requiring expanded vetting, screening, and background checks for naturalization applicants. More investigations mean more staff, more time, and more cost. Under the beneficiary-pays model, those costs flow to the applicant.

The agency goes further on fee waivers: it argues that waiver availability actually encourages ineligible applicants to file, because a denied application carries no immediate enforcement consequences. Eliminating waivers, DHS says, improves processing efficiency and discourages speculative filings.

What DHS Isn't Saying — The Real Impact

The beneficiary-pays argument has a logic problem that the proposal doesn't address.

Naturalization is not a discretionary service like expedited passport processing. It is the culmination of a legal immigration journey that typically takes years — maintaining lawful status, paying taxes, passing English and civics tests, demonstrating good moral character, waiting in lines. The people who reach the N-400 stage have already demonstrated, through years of compliance, that they are the kind of residents the U.S. immigration system is supposed to reward.

For a lawful permanent resident working a minimum wage job — earning approximately $30,000 per year in 2026 — $1,280 is more than two weeks of gross income. For a family where two parents are eligible to naturalize, the cost becomes $2,560. Plus the biometric fee. Plus any legal assistance.

The people most likely to be excluded by the fee increase are not the people most likely to be rejected. They are the people most likely to be approved — the long-term residents, the factory workers, the home health aides, the agricultural workers who came legally, stayed legally, and have been waiting for the moment when they could afford to complete the process.

The Fee Waiver: What It Covered, and Who Loses It

Understanding what's being eliminated requires understanding what exists now.

Currently, two forms of fee relief are available for the N-400:

The reduced fee ($380): Available to applicants whose household income is at or below 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. In 2026, 400% FPL for a family of four is approximately $124,800 — meaning this isn't just for the poorest applicants. It covers a significant portion of the working-class immigrant population.

The fee waiver (Form I-912): Available to applicants who demonstrate genuine financial hardship, receive means-tested public benefits, or whose household income is at or below 150% FPL. A successful waiver eliminates the fee entirely.

Under the proposed rule, both are gone. There is no fee waiver. There is no reduced fee. The only relief is the military exemption, which is required by statute and cannot be removed by regulation.

The advocacy community has already flagged one population that deserves particular attention: intercountry adoptees who were excluded from automatic citizenship under current law and must naturalize through the N-400. Many are in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. They did not choose their citizenship situation — it is a consequence of legislation that denied them citizenship at the time of adoption. The proposed rule gives them no pathway to fee relief, and no recognition that their situation is different from someone who chose to immigrate.

The Timeline: What Happens Next

Date	What happens
June 23, 2026	Proposed rule published in Federal Register — comment period opens
August 24, 2026	Public comment period closes
After August 24	DHS reviews comments, may revise proposal
Earliest possible effective date	Late 2026 — if DHS moves quickly after comments close
More likely effective date	Early 2027 — pending litigation
Current fees	Still in effect and will remain so until a final rule is published

The proposed rule is not yet in effect. Filing today costs $710 online or $760 on paper. That will not change until DHS publishes a final rule with a specific effective date.

One additional variable: litigation. Immigration advocates have already signaled that the elimination of fee waivers may face legal challenge. The administrative law argument — that eliminating waivers without adequate justification violates the APA's arbitrary and capricious standard — is real. A court could enjoin the waiver elimination even if the fee increase itself survives.

The safest assumption: the new fees will take effect at some point before mid-2027. Filing now eliminates that risk entirely.

Who Should File Now — And Who Should Wait

Profile	Should you file now?	Why
Eligible, can afford current fee	✅ Yes — file immediately	Lock in $710/$760 before the increase
Eligible, currently using reduced fee ($380)	✅ Yes — file immediately	The $380 option disappears if rule is finalized
Eligible, fee waiver holder	✅ Yes — file immediately	Fee waivers eliminated under proposed rule
Eligible but with unresolved eligibility issues	⚠️ Consult attorney first	A denied application at $710 is still $710 lost; fix issues before filing
Not yet eligible (missing residency time)	❌ Wait until eligible	Filing early creates no benefit and risks denial
Employer provides naturalization support	✅ Discuss with HR now	Employers may cover current fee; confirm policy before new fee takes effect

The single most important piece of advice: do not let eligibility expire while waiting for certainty. The fee will not decrease. The waivers will not return. The only direction of travel is up.

What a Family Actually Pays: A Scenario

Consider a family of four. Two parents, both lawful permanent residents eligible to naturalize. Both currently qualify for the $380 reduced fee. Combined household income: $65,000/year.

Under current rules:

Total naturalization cost: $760 (two × $380)
As a percentage of monthly household income: ~14%

Under proposed rules:

Total naturalization cost: $2,560 (two × $1,280 online)
As a percentage of monthly household income: ~47%
Fee waiver: Not available
Reduced fee: Not available

Nearly half a month's gross income. For a process the family has been waiting years to complete.

The Broader Signal

This proposal does not exist in isolation. Read alongside the $250 Visa Integrity Fee (still coming), the doubled graduate visa fees in Australia, the tripling of ETIAS fees in Europe, and the $750 premium interview service for B-1/B-2 visas — there is a consistent global trend: the cost of legal migration, at every stage of the process, is rising.

In the United States specifically, the Trump administration has been explicit about its philosophy: immigration benefits are not public goods to be subsidized. They are services rendered to individuals, and those individuals should pay the full cost. The beneficiary-pays model is not incidental. It is the stated goal.

The practical consequence of that philosophy, applied to naturalization, is that citizenship becomes a luxury good — accessible to those who can afford $1,280 or more, inaccessible to those who cannot. In a country where naturalization gives you the right to vote, the right to sponsor family members, the right to hold certain jobs, and the right to carry a U.S. passport — that is not a minor administrative fee change. It is a structural shift in who the United States is willing to fully welcome.

FAQ

Is the fee increase in effect now? No. The proposed rule was published June 23, 2026. Current fees ($710 online, $760 paper) remain in effect until a final rule is published. File now at current rates while you can.

When will the new fees take effect? At the earliest, late 2026 — after the August 24 comment period closes and DHS publishes a final rule. Litigation could delay or modify implementation. No specific effective date has been announced.

Can I still get a fee waiver if I apply now? Yes — fee waivers remain available under current rules. Apply now if you qualify. The waiver will not exist under the proposed rule if it is finalized.

Does the fee increase affect the biometric services fee? This proposed rule covers only the N-400 and N-336 fees. The biometric services fee ($85) is set separately and is not changed by this proposal.

What if I apply now and my application is denied? Do I pay the new fee to appeal? If you apply now at the current fee and are denied, the N-336 appeal fee at the time of your appeal will apply — which could be the new higher fee if the rule is finalized before you appeal. This is another reason to ensure your application is as complete and strong as possible before filing.

Will employers cover the new higher fee? Some employers with immigration support policies already cover naturalization filing fees. Review your company's policy now. Many HR teams are not aware of the proposed increase and have not updated their benefit structures.

Editorial Opinion — The Immigrants

There's a word that appears throughout DHS's proposed rulemaking: "beneficiary." As in, the person who benefits from citizenship should pay for it.

We want to examine that word carefully.

The person applying for U.S. citizenship through Form N-400 is typically someone who has been a lawful permanent resident for at least five years. They have paid taxes. They have maintained status. They have passed an English test and a civics test that a significant portion of native-born Americans would fail. They have demonstrated, year after year, that they are exactly the kind of resident the U.S. immigration system claims to want.

Calling them a "beneficiary" — as if citizenship is a service the government is providing to them, for which they should reimburse the full cost — inverts the relationship. The United States benefits from naturalized citizens. They vote. They serve on juries. They contribute to civic life. They sponsor family members who become workers and taxpayers. They fill roles in healthcare, education, agriculture, and technology that the native-born population cannot fill alone.

The previous policy of pricing naturalization below full cost was not charity. It was a recognition that citizenship creates value for the country, not just for the individual. Eliminating that recognition — and eliminating fee waivers for the people least able to pay — is a statement about what kind of country the United States wants to be.

We think the statement is wrong.

File now if you can. Comment on the proposed rule if you want to be heard. The comment period is open until August 24 at regulations.gov, docket USCIS-2026-0265.

Disclaimer

This article is for informational and journalistic purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The proposed N-400 fee increase has not taken effect. Current fees remain in place until a final rule is published. Filing decisions should be based on a complete review of eligibility. Consult a licensed immigration attorney before filing if you have questions about your eligibility or immigration history. The Immigrants is not affiliated with any government agency, law firm, or immigration service provider.