The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed raising the cost of the U.S. citizenship application and eliminating the reduced fee and most payment exemptions for the naturalization process.
The measure would affect Form N-400, used by lawful permanent residents seeking to become U.S. citizens. For immigrant families in Houston and Harris County, the change could substantially raise the initial cost of the process if the rule is approved.
The proposal was published as a regulation notice by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an agency that is part of DHS. The change is not yet a final rule and goes through a public comment period before the federal government makes a final decision.
The Citizenship Form N-400 would rise from $760 to $1,330 on paper
The main change would raise the general N-400 paper filing fee from $760 to $1,330. The difference would be $570, equivalent to a 75% increase.
For online filings, the cost would rise from $710 to $1,280. That change also represents a $570 increase.
The Form N-400 is the application used by many lawful permanent residents to begin the naturalization process. That process includes background checks, an interview, and civics and English testing, according to applicable federal requirements.
USCIS indicated in the proposal that the increase aims to cover the full cost of reviewing and processing these applications, including evaluation and verification checks.
The cost to request a review of a decision would also increase
The proposal would also change the cost of Form N-336, used to request a hearing on a decision in a naturalization case.
The filing fee for Form N-336 on paper would rise from $830 to $1,475. The difference would be $645, equivalent to a 77.7% increase.
For online filings, the proposed cost would be $1,425, compared to the current $780.
Form N-336 applies when a person requests USCIS to review a decision on their naturalization case. It does not apply to all citizenship applications, but to cases in which the applicant seeks a hearing after a determination by the agency.
The proposal would eliminate the reduced citizenship fee and exemptions for N-400
DHS also proposed eliminating the reduced fee for Form N-400. That option currently exists for certain applicants whose incomes fall within thresholds set by federal poverty guidelines.
The proposal would also eliminate the availability of payment exemptions for Forms N-400 and N-336.
Current and former members of the Armed Forces who seek naturalization under the respective sections of immigration law would remain exempt from payment, according to the federal document.
DHS noted that it aims to align fees with the cost of processing the forms and to apply a model in which the service beneficiary covers the cost of the service.
The rule is not in effect yet
The change is not effective immediately. The proposal is part of a federal regulatory process and is subject to public comments before any final rule.
The federal notice identifies the docket as DHS Docket No. USCIS-2026-0265. Public comments are submitted through Regulations.gov and must include the agency name, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the docket number.
The document states that written comments are accepted up to 60 days after the official publication in the Federal Register. If the publication is dated June 23, 2026, the comment period would end on August 22, 2026.
Comments must be submitted in English or include an English translation. The federal government stated that it will not accept comments delivered in person, by physical mail, by direct email to officials, or on digital storage devices.
USCIS says current fees do not cover the cost of the citizenship process
In the proposal, USCIS contends that current fees do not fully cover the cost of reviewing naturalization applications and requests for review hearings on naturalization decisions.
The agency noted that processing includes reviews, security checks, and verifications that have been expanded in line with presidential executive orders.
USCIS is primarily funded by fees paid by applicants for immigration benefits, not with general tax funds. Under that model, the costs of certain procedures are covered by payments from those who file applications with the agency.
The proposal also notes that maintaining payment exemptions for these citizenship forms would raise the overall cost of applications for other applicants.
Permanent residents would continue to use the current process until a final rule is in place
Until the proposal becomes a final rule, the current fees remain as officially published by USCIS for each form.
People preparing a citizenship application can check the current fee on the official USCIS page before submitting any document. The agency maintains a fee schedule on Form G-1055 and on its official fee calculator.
The public docket for the proposal is available on Regulations.gov under the number USCIS-2026-0265.
