The Department of Homeland Security released a new naturalization proposal on Monday, marking a dramatic escalation in new citizenship fees.
If implemented, the new rule from DHS’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would mean applicants would foot a $1,330 bill for paper filings and $1,280 for online applications.
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That would entail fee increases of 75% and 80%, respectively. The previous USCIS rule from 2024 established a $760 fee for paper naturalization application requests and $710 for online requests. In 2016, it cost applicants $595 to apply for naturalization.
The proposed rule would also eliminate fee waivers and reduced rates for most applicants, according to a notice published in the Federal Register.
The proposed changes have attracted criticism.
“The proposal represents a significant shift in the cost of becoming a U.S. citizen,” former DHS official Adam Klein told Newsweek.
“While USCIS is largely a fee-funded agency and must recover its operational costs, substantially increasing naturalization fees risks turning citizenship into a benefit that is less accessible to those of modest means,” he said. “Naturalization has historically been encouraged as a matter of public policy because citizens tend to experience greater economic mobility, civic participation, and long-term integration. Higher fees could undermine those goals.”
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The development comes amid the Trump administration’s effort to reduce immigration levels, including by deporting illegal immigrants. DHS announced in May that it would require certain green card hopefuls in the United States to return to their home country before seeking permanent lawful status. In October, it instituted a new $1,000 fee that it said was aimed at deterring illegal immigrants from abusing the country’s parole system.
“The Biden Administration abused America’s immigration system and turned parole into a de facto amnesty program, thereby allowing millions of unvetted illegal aliens into the U.S., no questions asked, to the detriment of all Americans,” then-DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said at the time.
