- Comments on the DHS rule raising the Form N-400 fee to $1,330 closed August 24, 2026; no final rule has been published yet.
- The proposal ends the $380 reduced fee and all fee waivers, which covered 189,832 N-400 filings from April 2024 to March 2025.
- Current fees of $760 paper and $710 online still apply, and the 2024 fee rule gave about 60 days between publication and the new fees.
The proposal to raise the U.S. citizenship application fee to $1,330 has cleared its public comment stage. The comment period on the Department of Homeland Security’s rule closed on August 24, 2026, and the only step left before it can take effect is a final rule. As of September 26, 2026, no final rule has been published, so today’s fees, the reduced fee and fee waivers all still apply.
That leaves a window that may not last. Anyone eligible to naturalize now can still file Form N-400 for $760 on paper or $710 online, or for $380 under the reduced fee, or for nothing with an approved fee waiver. The proposed rule would raise the paper fee by $570, end the reduced fee, and end fee waivers for both Form N-400 and Form N-336, the appeal of a denied naturalization application.
Free toolI-94 Expiration Calculator OnlineDHS has not said when it will finalize the rule. This article covers what the proposal would change, who would pay more, what the timeline looks like from here, and how to decide whether to file now or wait. VisaVerge first reported the proposal in June in Trump Administration Proposes $570 Increase for U.S. Citizenship Application Fees.
Where the Rule Stands Today
DHS published the proposal, titled “Naturalization Application Fee Adjustments,” in the Federal Register on June 23, 2026 (91 FR 37500, RIN 1615-AD08). It issued a technical correction on July 8 that added missing paperwork-burden details for the fee waiver form and did not change any fee amount.
The public docket, USCIS-2026-0265 on regulations.gov, showed 2,248 posted public comments as of September 26. The American Immigration Lawyers Association was among the groups that filed comments. DHS must consider the comments before it issues a final rule, and it can change the proposal in response to them.
A Federal Register search on September 26 found no final rule on naturalization fees. Until one is published and its effective date arrives, USCIS must accept the fees in its current schedule, which dates from the 2024 fee rule.
What the Proposal Would Change
The rule makes three changes. First, it raises the Form N-400 fee from $760 to $1,330 for paper filings, a 75 percent increase, and from $710 to $1,280 online, an 80 percent increase. Second, it raises the Form N-336 fee from $830 to $1,475 on paper and from $780 to $1,425 online, increases of $645 each. Third, it removes the $380 reduced fee for Form N-400 and ends fee waivers for both forms.
DHS is not changing the $50 discount for filing online, which is why the online and paper fees stay $50 apart. The proposal also leaves the USCIS Director’s general power to waive or exempt fees under 8 CFR 106.3(c) in place, though that authority is used case by case rather than through a standard application.
Who Pays More, and by How Much
Every non-military applicant pays more, but the steepest jump falls on people who now pay little or nothing. A fee waiver applicant filing on paper would go from $0 to $1,330. A reduced-fee applicant would go from $380 to $1,330, an increase of $950.
Those groups are not small. DHS’s own data show USCIS approved 157,488 Form N-400 fee waivers and 32,344 reduced fees between April 2024 and March 2025, out of 1,011,745 total N-400 receipts. Together that is about 19 percent of all naturalization applications in that year.
Under current rules, the two discounts work like this:
- Fee waiver (Form I-912): available if you receive a means-tested benefit, have household income at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, or face extreme financial hardship such as unexpected medical bills.
- Reduced fee ($380): available if household income is above 150 percent and at or below 400 percent of the poverty guidelines. DHS’s example: under the 2025 guidelines, a four-person household in the lower 48 states qualifies with income up to $128,600.
DHS argues that the 400 percent ceiling, set in the 2024 fee rule, is “extraordinarily high” and reaches households earning above the U.S. median. It notes that reduced-fee filings rose from 0.3 percent of N-400 receipts in FY2019 to FY2023 to 3.2 percent in the year after the 2024 rule took effect.
Full-fee applicants also pay more. DHS estimates the fee increase alone would move about $430 million a year from full-fee applicants to USCIS, plus about $196 million a year from people who now qualify for waivers and $16.7 million from reduced-fee filers.
Why DHS Says the Fee Must Rise
DHS’s case rests on cost recovery. It projects that processing Form N-400 will cost $1,107.9 million a year in the FY2026/2027 period, against projected revenue of $471.9 million at current fees, a shortfall of $636.0 million. It says the 2024 fee rule set the N-400 fee at $760 even though the full cost it assessed was $1,135, with other applicants’ fees covering the difference.
The agency also points to added screening and vetting work tied to recent executive orders, and says keeping fee waivers while raising fees would push the general fee $85 to $120 higher per form. It adds that fee waiver and reduced-fee applicants were more likely to be denied. From FY2020 to FY2024, the N-400 approval rate was 93 percent for full-fee filers, 90 percent for reduced-fee filers, and 83 percent for fee waiver recipients.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association opposed the rule in its comments, arguing that nearly doubling the fee while ending waivers creates “substantial financial barriers to naturalization” for low-income applicants, and that DHS did not consider alternatives such as sliding-scale fees. DHS acknowledged in the proposal that the increase “may impose further financial burden” on some households, but concluded that citizenship is an “inelastic good” whose demand does not fall much with price.
What Happens Next, and How Fast
The next step is a final rule in the Federal Register. DHS reviews the comments, decides whether to change the proposal, and sends the final version through White House regulatory review. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs does not publish a timetable for that review, so there is no way to know from public records how close the final rule is.
The best guide is precedent. The 2024 USCIS fee rule was published on January 31, 2024 and took effect on April 1, 2024, about 60 days later. DHS classifies this proposal as economically significant because its effects exceed $100 million a year, and rules of that size usually carry a waiting period of at least 60 days between publication and effective date.
In practice, that means applicants should get roughly two months’ notice once a final rule appears. It does not mean the rule will look exactly like the proposal. DHS can raise or lower the amounts, restore some waiver categories, or phase changes in.
File Now or Wait? How to Decide
Under the 2024 fee rule, the correct fee depended on the postmark date: anything postmarked on or before March 31, 2024 was filed at the old fees, and anything postmarked on or after April 1, 2024 needed the new ones. If the same approach holds, filing before a final rule’s effective date locks in today’s price and today’s waiver rules.
That makes the decision simple for most people. If you are already eligible, or within the 90-day early filing window before your permanent residence anniversary, there is little to gain by waiting. If you qualify for a fee waiver or the reduced fee, the stakes are highest: you could save between $950 and $1,330 by filing before the change.
Rushing has costs too. USCIS filing fees are generally not refunded. An application filed more than 90 days before you meet the residence requirement, or one filed before you are ready for the English and civics test, can be denied, and the fee is lost. Our guide to the new naturalization civics test covers what the interview now requires.
Our Form N-400 documents checklist lists what USCIS expects in the package. A complete filing matters more than usual right now, because a rejected application refiled after the new fees take effect would cost the higher amount.
Expect a Rush Before the Deadline
DHS itself cites research showing that naturalization filings jumped ahead of past fee increases, including the 137 percent increase in 1999 and the 80 percent increase in 2007, then fell afterward. A final rule with a 60-day runway would likely produce the same front-loading, and a surge of applications tends to lengthen processing times for everyone in the queue.
Processing is already slow in parts of the country. Naturalizations have dropped sharply in some field offices this year, as VisaVerge reported in Citizenship Ceremonies Mostly Vanish in Cleveland as Naturalizations Slow. Filing earlier, rather than in a last-minute wave, puts an application ahead of that surge.
Paper or Online Filing
Online filing saves $50 now and would still save $50 under the proposal. USCIS gained authority on August 11, 2026 to require online filing for certain forms, including Form N-400, but it must post at least 60 days’ notice before making any form online-only. As of late September, it had not designated Form N-400.
Applicants requesting a fee waiver or the reduced fee cannot use the online system for those requests and must file on paper. If the proposal becomes final, that distinction disappears, since both discounts would end.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the N-400 fee increase to $1,330 final?
No. DHS published it as a proposed rule on June 23, 2026, and the comment period closed August 24, 2026. As of September 26, 2026, no final rule had been published, so the current $760 paper and $710 online fees still apply.
How much is the N-400 fee right now?
The current Form N-400 fee is $760 for paper filings and $710 online. Applicants with household income above 150 percent and up to 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines can pay a reduced fee of $380, and fee waivers remain available.
Will fee waivers for Form N-400 end?
Under the proposal, yes. DHS would end fee waivers for Form N-400 and Form N-336 and remove the $380 reduced fee. USCIS approved 157,488 N-400 fee waivers and 32,344 reduced fees between April 2024 and March 2025.
When will the new naturalization fees take effect?
No date has been set. A final rule must be published first. The 2024 USCIS fee rule took effect April 1, 2024, about 60 days after publication on January 31, 2024, which suggests a similar gap.
Should I file my N-400 now to avoid the fee increase?
If you are already eligible or within the 90-day early filing window, filing before the new fees take effect avoids paying $570 more. Under the 2024 rule, the postmark date decided which fee applied. Do not file before you are eligible, because fees are generally not refunded.
What will Form N-336 cost under the proposed rule?
The proposal raises the Form N-336 fee, used to appeal a naturalization denial, from $830 to $1,475 on paper and from $780 to $1,425 online. That is a $645 increase, and fee waivers for the form would end.
Do military members pay the new N-400 fee?
No. Current and former members of the U.S. armed forces who naturalize under INA section 328 or 329 remain fee exempt for Form N-400 and Form N-336 under the proposal.
Why does DHS want to raise the citizenship application fee?
DHS says current fees do not cover costs. It projects Form N-400 processing will cost $1,107.9 million a year against $471.9 million in revenue at current fees, a $636.0 million shortfall, and wants applicants to pay the full cost.
