USCIS Wants to Raise the Citizenship Application Fee 75 Percent. Fee Waivers Would Disappear. The Comment Window Closes August 24.

What DHS proposed on June 23

On June 23, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to raise fees for naturalization applications. The docket number is USCIS-2026-0265. The comment period opened the same day and closes August 24, 2026.

The proposed increase is substantial. Filing Form N-400 by paper would cost $1,330 — up from the current $760, a 75 percent jump. Filing online would go from $710 to $1,280. If you want to appeal a denial using Form N-336, that fee would rise to $1,475 for paper and $1,425 for online. These are proposed amounts. Nothing has taken effect. What becomes final, and when, depends entirely on what happens after the comment period closes and how DHS works through the public record.

The fee chart does not show you the full picture

The headline fee increase is significant. The waiver elimination is worse.

Under current USCIS rules, lawful permanent residents with household incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level can apply for a fee waiver on Form N-400 — meaning they pay nothing. Those with incomes at or below 200 percent of the poverty level can apply for a reduced fee of $380 instead of $760. Both options exist because Congress and multiple administrations have recognized that the ability to pay $760 should not determine whether a qualified person can apply for citizenship.

The proposed rule eliminates the $380 reduced fee and ends fee waiver eligibility for both Form N-400 and Form N-336. Under the proposal, every applicant would pay the full $1,330. The only people who would remain exempt are current and former members of the armed forces applying under Sections 328 or 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Everyone else pays the same amount regardless of income.

Who is actually using these waivers right now

The people who currently qualify for fee waivers are not people with multiple advanced degrees and employer-sponsored green cards. They are agricultural workers, care workers, domestic workers, and people who spent years in the immigration system before finding a family-based path. Many have been lawful permanent residents for a decade or more — they qualified for naturalization long ago, they just have not had a spare $760.

There is also a less-discussed category: people from countries like India and China who obtained their green cards only recently, after waiting in the employment-based backlog for ten, fifteen, or twenty years. Many of them paid enormous amounts over that period — attorney fees, PERM recruitment costs, I-140 filing fees, I-485 fees, biometrics fees, EAD renewals, advance parole applications. A 75 percent increase in the naturalization fee on top of all of that is a real financial event, not a rounding error.

A meaningful number of N-400 filers use fee waivers or the reduced fee in any given year. Under the proposed rule, none of them would have access to that relief — unless they are military veterans under Sections 328 or 329. Every other lawful permanent resident pays $1,330 or does not file.

The 'beneficiary-pays' argument and what is driving it

DHS's stated rationale is what the agency calls the 'beneficiary-pays' principle: the people who receive a government service should bear the full cost of providing it, and other applicants should not subsidize their fees.

The specific argument is that prior administrations kept the N-400 fee deliberately below the actual processing cost — not because USCIS miscalculated, but because encouraging naturalization was a policy goal and treating citizenship as financially accessible was a deliberate choice. According to DHS, the gap between what N-400 applicants paid and what it actually costs to adjudicate a naturalization case was made up by charging more to other applicants — people filing H-1B petitions, I-485 applications, and other immigration benefit requests.

The current proposal says that arrangement should end. If it costs $1,330 to process a naturalization case, naturalization applicants should pay $1,330. What the proposal does not address is what happens if the fee increase causes a significant decline in naturalization filings — and whether that creates a different funding imbalance elsewhere in the USCIS fee structure. USCIS is a fee-funded agency. Its budget depends on application volume. A fee that discourages applications reduces the revenue pool the agency uses to fund operations across all categories.

Two separate rules: what is already in effect versus what is proposed

A point of confusion worth addressing: USCIS did substantially raise fees in a 2024 rulemaking that took effect April 1, 2024. That rule raised the I-485 filing fee for most employment-based applicants, introduced an asylum program surcharge applied across many petition categories, and increased fees for H-1B petitions and other benefits. That rule was challenged in court, partially upheld, and is currently in effect for the categories it covers.

The June 23 proposed rule is a separate, distinct action. It targets naturalization fees specifically and adds the waiver elimination on top of the fee increase. The two rules are not the same document, were not published together, and do not share an effective date. The 2024 changes that are already in effect remain in place regardless of what happens with this new proposal.

If you filed an N-400 before this proposed rule was published, or before any final rule takes effect, the fee you paid at the time of filing is the fee that applies to your case. USCIS does not retroactively charge more when fees change after filing. For people currently eligible who have not yet filed, the current fee schedule — $760 paper, $710 online — remains in effect until a final rule is published with a specific effective date.

When the fee increase could realistically take effect

The comment period closes August 24, 2026. After that, DHS reviews the public record. For a rule generating substantial public interest — and a 75 percent fee increase with waiver elimination will generate substantial public interest — the post-comment review typically takes four months to well over a year. DHS must formally respond to significant comments in the final rule text, address legal objections, and publish final regulatory language with a specified effective date. The effective date is typically 60 to 90 days after publication of the final rule.

A realistic estimate for when the final rule could actually take effect: sometime in 2027, assuming DHS treats this as a priority. That is not guaranteed. The administration has a heavy regulatory agenda, and NPRM timelines in immigration have consistently slipped. There is also a meaningful probability the final rule gets challenged in federal court before it takes effect, which can pause the effective date while litigation proceeds.

If you are a lawful permanent resident who has been eligible to apply for naturalization but has not yet done so, the current fee schedule is in effect right now. Filing before any final rule takes effect locks in the current price. That is not a reason to rush if you are not otherwise ready. It is a factor worth being aware of.

How to submit a comment — and whether it makes a difference

Written public comments must be submitted by August 24, 2026 through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at regulations.gov. Search for Docket No. USCIS-2026-0265. Comments can come from individuals, employers, community organizations, immigration attorneys, or any member of the public.

Under administrative law, agencies that receive significant public comments on a proposed rule are required to respond to those comments in the final rule. 'Significant' in administrative law terms does not mean emotionally compelling. It means substantive: comments that raise specific factual or legal objections, provide data, or identify specific provisions that conflict with statute or policy. A comment documenting the actual effect of the waiver elimination on naturalization rates in a specific community carries more regulatory weight than a general statement that the fee is too high.

Prior USCIS fee rulemakings have produced changes between the proposed and final versions because of the comment record. The waiver elimination in particular is a provision that may generate legal challenges independent of the fee level — there are plausible arguments that eliminating waivers conflicts with congressional intent regarding naturalization access, and those arguments are best preserved by being in the administrative record before the rule finalizes.

This article is informational only and does not constitute legal advice. The proposed fee changes described here have not been finalized. Current USCIS fees remain in effect until a final rule with a specific effective date is published. Consult a licensed immigration attorney for guidance on naturalization eligibility, timing, or any aspect of your specific situation.