US Citizenship May Soon Cost Hundreds More
India-West News Desk
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Green Card holders seeking U.S. citizenship could soon face substantially higher application costs under a proposal from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The proposal would raise the fee for Form N-400, the application used to become a U.S. citizen, by $570. Online filings would increase from $710 to $1,280, while paper applications would rise from $760 to $1,330.
Fees for Form N-336, used to request a review of a denied naturalization application, would also increase sharply. The online filing fee would rise from $780 to $1,425, while paper filings would increase from $830 to $1,475.
The proposal comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has intensified efforts to identify citizenship fraud and pursue cases involving individuals accused of obtaining U.S. citizenship through false information.
Explaining the proposed increases, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said applicants seeking citizenship should bear the full cost of processing their cases rather than having part of those costs covered by fees collected from other immigration applications.
“Having reexamined whether or not DHS should continue charging lower fees for Form N-400 and Form N-336 and shifting those costs to other benefit requests, DHS now believes aliens filing these forms should pay the full cost of adjudication,” the agency said in the proposal.
DHS also said it no longer believes the significance of naturalization alone justifies keeping citizenship-related fees below processing costs.
“US citizenship is the most meaningful immigration benefit the United States can bestow on an alien,” the proposal states. The agency added that the value of citizenship supports setting application fees at levels that fully recover adjudication costs.
Naturalization is the process through which a foreign-born individual voluntarily becomes a U.S. citizen. Green Card holders are generally eligible to apply after five years of permanent residence, or after three years if married to a U.S. citizen.
Applicants must be at least 18 years old, meet residency and physical presence requirements, demonstrate basic English proficiency, pass a civics test and show good moral character.
Those whose citizenship applications are denied can file Form N-336 to seek a review of the decision. The form must be submitted within 30 days of receiving the denial notice.
