(UNITED STATES) — The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services unveiled a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on June 22, 2026 that would raise the citizenship application fee by $570 for most applicants and recast naturalization under a full-cost, beneficiary-pays model.

The proposal would push the price of Form N-400 from $760 to $1,330 for paper filings and from $710 to $1,280 for online filings. It would also raise the fee for Form N-336, used to appeal a denial of naturalization, from $830 to $1,475.

DHS scheduled the rule for official publication in the Federal Register on June 23, 2026, opening a 60-day public comment window before the plan can be finalized and implemented. The proposal appears in RIN 1615-AD08.

The change marks a sharp break from earlier fee policy. DHS wrote, “Although DHS has historically limited the fees for [citizenship-related applications] to fulfill previous administrations’ priorities of encouraging naturalization. DHS no longer believes naturalization benefit requests should get lower fees at the potential expense of other immigration benefits.”

That language places the proposed increase squarely inside the Trump administration‘s broader immigration policy. Rather than treating naturalization as a benefit worth subsidizing, the agency says the people seeking it should cover the full cost themselves.

USCIS tied the proposal to its budget structure and to screening demands it says have grown. The agency is 94% fee-funded, and the administration says naturalization processing now carries projected shortfalls exceeding $600 million annually.

DHS wrote, “Increasing fees and eliminating fee waivers for Form N-400 and Form N-336 would close the cost/revenue gap from these forms that is currently filled by fees charged to other benefit requestors.” The agency also said current fees “do not recover the full cost of thoroughly adjudicating applications for naturalization, including necessary screening and vetting checks, which USCIS is continuously enhancing consistent with the President’s Executive Orders.”

That cost argument drives every part of the proposal. The new fee schedule would erase long-standing discounts that softened the path to citizenship for lower-income applicants.

Under the plan, the reduced-fee naturalization option would disappear. Applicants who now qualify for the lower $380 rate because household income is at or below 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines would instead pay the same $1,330 charged for a paper filing.

The increase for that group is especially steep: $950, or 250%. For online filers who do not qualify for a discount, the increase would total $570, or 80%.

Fee waivers for naturalization would also be nearly eliminated. Immigrants who previously could seek a full waiver because of low income would lose that option under the proposed rule.

One exception remains. Current and former U.S. military service members would stay exempt from these fees.

The numbers make this one of the largest single-year jumps in citizenship costs in U.S. history. A family that once could apply under the reduced fee or seek a waiver would face a far higher bill if the rule takes effect.

The proposal affects more than the initial citizenship application fee. A person denied naturalization and seeking review through Form N-336 would face a new charge of $1,475, up $645, or 78%, from the current $830.

DHS frames that increase the same way it frames the naturalization filing itself: as a price that should reflect the full expense of adjudication and vetting. In the agency’s description, cross-subsidizing citizenship through other immigration fees no longer fits its policy.

That is a notable shift in USCIS procedure and philosophy. For years, fee design reflected a balance between cost recovery and an effort to encourage lawful permanent residents to become citizens. The proposed rule abandons that approach in favor of what DHS repeatedly calls a beneficiary-pays system.

The administration argues that the model will improve processing integrity. DHS says making applicants cover the full cost of “rigorous security vetting” will “improve the integrity of the U.S. naturalization system.”

Naturalization occupies a distinct place in the immigration system because it turns a lawful permanent resident into a U.S. citizen. The application itself is a documentation process, but it also carries legal and civic consequences that go well beyond filing paperwork.

Applicants must complete Form N-400, submit supporting records, attend biometrics collection, and appear for an interview and tests. When USCIS denies the request, Form N-336 offers an administrative appeal route before a new officer reviews the case.

Higher filing costs can change who pursues that process and when. Eliminating the reduced fee and most waivers means the price difference will hit at the front end of the case, before biometrics, interview scheduling, or any appeal becomes relevant.

The proposal also widens the gap between online and paper filing while preserving a small digital discount. Even after the increase, online naturalization would cost $1,280, or $50 less than the paper version at $1,330.

Current fee information remains available on the USCIS fee schedule. The proposed rule’s public docket appears at USCIS-2026-0265.

Anyone planning to naturalize now faces a familiar procedural divide in immigration rulemaking: the current fees remain in place during the comment period, while the proposed schedule lays out what DHS wants to charge once it finalizes the rule. Until then, the existing naturalization fees still govern filings.

The public comment process will test how far DHS can push the move to full-cost pricing without cutting off access to citizenship for lower-income residents. The text the agency released leaves little doubt about its direction: naturalization, under this proposal, is no longer treated as a benefit worth subsidizing, but as one applicants must fund in full.