--- title: Trump Administration Moves to Increase the Price Tag for Seeking U.S. Citizenship description: A proposed rule would raise costs for immigrants applying to become naturalized U.S. citizens by hundreds of dollars. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/06/22/trump-administration-immigration-citizenship-naturalization-application-cost-dhs/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-06-22T23:10:08.268Z article:modified_time: 2026-06-22T23:10:08.444Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Administration Moves to Increase the Price Tag for Seeking U.S. Citizenship og:description: A proposed rule would raise costs for immigrants applying to become naturalized U.S. citizens by hundreds of dollars. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/06/22/trump-administration-immigration-citizenship-naturalization-application-cost-dhs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdad6c75c2b5f9fea/6a39be08ae3d3c5e7e676164/Trump-Citizenship-Fee.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Trump-Citizenship-Fee.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Administration Moves to Increase the Price Tag for Seeking U.S. Citizenship twitter:description: A proposed rule would raise costs for immigrants applying to become naturalized U.S. citizens by hundreds of dollars. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdad6c75c2b5f9fea/6a39be08ae3d3c5e7e676164/Trump-Citizenship-Fee.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Administration Moves to Increase the Price Tag for Seeking U.S. Citizenship > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=829dfe6a-73ab-430a-84ac-5c165117cb7e&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Jun 22, 2026 11:10 PM UTC  The Department Of Homeland Security logo is displayed at a Citizenship and Immigration Services office in San Diego, California, on Jan. 16, 2026. The Department Of Homeland Security logo is displayed at a Citizenship and Immigration Services office in San Diego, California, on Jan. 16, 2026. Kevin Carter—Getty Images by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Jun 22, 2026 11:10 PM UTC The Trump Administration is seeking to raise the price tag for immigrants [applying](https://time.com/7327246/us-citizenship-test-changes-harder-civics-english-trump/) to become naturalized [U.S. citizens](https://time.com/7310570/uscis-good-moral-character-naturalization-citizenship-test-trump-administration-immigration/) by hundreds of dollars. A [proposed rule](https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-12542.pdf) from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed on Monday would significantly increase the cost of filing a form immigrants must submit to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to apply for citizenship. Under the rule, the price of filing Form [N-400](https://uscisdhs-gov.us/n-400.html) by paper would rise by 75%, from $760 to $1,330, and the cost of submitting the form online would increase by 80%, from $710 to $1,280. In addition, the proposal would end the reduced fee option for Form N-400, which is currently available to immigrants whose household income is at or under 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. DHS is also proposing ending fee waivers for the form. Current and former military service members who are applying to become naturalized citizens, though, are still eligible for fee exemptions. It’s not yet clear when or if the increases would go into effect; the proposed rule would still have to go through a process—including a period during which the public is permitted to submit their opinions on the proposal—before it could be enacted. DHS said that the proposed changes to the filing fees “would recover the full costs associated with adjudicating these forms.” The agency went on to say that the 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.” The proposal comes as Trump has made cracking down on both [legal](https://time.com/7300082/trump-denaturalization-deportation-musk-mamdani-us-citizenship-history-legal-explainer/) and illegal immigration a key focus of his second term agenda. As part of his hardline approach to the issue, his Administration has sought to [restrict](https://time.com/7338064/green-card-rules-immigration-changes-trump/) legal immigration pathways and even [moved to strip](https://time.com/article/2026/06/08/trump-administration-denaturalization-citizenship-immigration/) the citizenship of more than two dozen naturalized Americans so far this year—an unprecedented move that stirred controversy among immigration advocates and legal experts. “DHS now believes aliens filing these forms should pay the full cost of adjudication,” the proposed rule reads. “U.S. citizenship is the most meaningful immigration benefit the United States can bestow on an alien. However, keeping the fees for Form N-400 … below cost requires DHS to shift the costs not covered by those fees to the fees paid for other forms. DHS no longer believes that the importance of naturalization sufficiently justifies funding naturalization from the fees paid for other immigration benefits.” DHS acknowledged that this proposed fee change diverges from the approach of past Administrations. “Although DHS has historically limited the fees for Form N-400 … 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,” the proposed rule reads. Immigration experts expressed concerns that, should the proposed rule go into effect, it would increase the financial burden on people seeking U.S. citizenship, potentially putting naturalization out of reach for some immigrants. “For generations, the U.S. government deliberate\[ly\] kept citizenship application fees low in an effort to encourage the millions of people with green cards to apply,” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said in a [post on X](https://x.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/2069094779103682724) on Monday. “No longer.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/06/22/trump-administration-immigration-citizenship-naturalization-application-cost-dhs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/06/22/trump-administration-immigration-citizenship-naturalization-application-cost-dhs/"},"headline":"Trump Administration Moves to Increase the Price Tag for Seeking U.S. Citizenship","datePublished":"2026-06-22T23:10:08.268Z","dateModified":"2026-06-22T23:10:08.444Z","description":"A proposed rule would raise costs for immigrants applying to become naturalized U.S. citizens by hundreds of dollars.","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/06/22/trump-administration-immigration-citizenship-naturalization-application-cost-dhs/","keywords":["Trump Administration","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdad6c75c2b5f9fea/6a39be08ae3d3c5e7e676164/Trump-Citizenship-Fee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chantelle Lee","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdad6c75c2b5f9fea/6a39be08ae3d3c5e7e676164/Trump-Citizenship-Fee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump-Citizenship-Fee.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Kevin Carter—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/06/22/trump-administration-immigration-citizenship-naturalization-application-cost-dhs/","name":"Trump Administration Moves to Increase the Price Tag for Seeking U.S. Citizenship"}}]}] ```