The Trump administration has proposed a steep increase in US citizenship application fees that could make naturalisation considerably more expensive for Green Card holders, including tens of thousands
of Indians who become American citizens each year.
Under the proposal published by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the Federal Register on June 23, the cost of filing the main citizenship application would rise by about 75 to 80 per cent. The administration also plans to remove the reduced-fee option and income-based fee waivers currently available to applicants who cannot afford the full charge.
The changes have not yet taken effect. They will first go through a public consultation process, and the DHS could revise the proposal before issuing a final rule. Until then, applicants can continue filing at the existing rates.
If implemented in its present form, however, the proposal would place a heavier financial burden on permanent residents seeking citizenship, particularly families in which several members are eligible to apply at the same time.
How Much Could A US Citizenship Application Cost?
The proposed changes primarily affect Form N-400, officially known as the Application for Naturalization. This is the form most eligible Green Card holders must submit when seeking US citizenship.
The fee for a paper N-400 application would increase from $760 to $1,330 — a rise of $570, or 75 per cent.
Applicants filing online currently pay $710. Under the proposal, that charge would increase to $1,280, also a $570 rise and an increase of roughly 80 per cent.
Online filing would therefore remain $50 cheaper than submitting a paper application, but both options would become substantially more expensive.
For an individual applicant, the proposed rule would add $570 to the cost of applying. The burden would be larger for households where multiple Green Card holders are seeking citizenship together. A family with three eligible applicants, for example, would have to pay an additional $1,710 solely because of the proposed increase.
The proposal would also raise the cost of Form N-336, which is used to request a hearing after a naturalisation application has been denied.
For paper submissions, the N-336 fee would rise from $830 to $1,475. The cost of filing the form online would increase from $780 to $1,425. In both cases, applicants would pay $645 more than they do under the present fee structure.
Reduced Fees And Waivers Could Be Removed
The proposal goes beyond raising the standard filing charges. It would also eliminate the reduced N-400 fee available to certain lower-income applicants and remove income-based fee waivers for naturalisation applications.
At present, people with limited financial resources may qualify either for a lower fee or for a complete waiver, depending on their circumstances. Removing these options would mean that most applicants would have to pay the full proposed amount regardless of their income.
The exemption would continue only for eligible current and former members of the US military who qualify for fee-free naturalisation under specific provisions of American immigration law.
What The Proposal Means For Indians
Indians are among the largest immigrant communities in the United States and consistently rank among the leading groups obtaining American citizenship.
Estimates from the Migration Policy Institute, based on the 2024 American Community Survey, indicate that around 3.2 million Indian immigrants live in the US. Nearly half of them have already become naturalised American citizens.
According to DHS data, 65,960 Indians were naturalised in the 2022 fiscal year, accounting for 6.8 per cent of all new US citizens that year.
The number declined to about 59,050 in FY2023 and 49,700 in FY2024. Even after that fall, India remained the second-largest country of birth among people who obtained US citizenship in FY2024, behind Mexico.
Indians accounted for 6.1 per cent of the 818,570 people naturalised during the 2024 fiscal year. Mexico was the largest source country, with 107,670 people, or 13.2 per cent of the total.
The figures indicate that any increase in citizenship fees is likely to affect a sizeable number of Indian-origin permanent residents each year.
For many Indians, naturalisation comes at the end of an exceptionally long immigration journey. Employment-based immigrants may first enter the US on an H-1B visa before going through labour certification, an immigrant petition and Green Card processing. They must then spend years as permanent residents before becoming eligible to seek citizenship.
The Cato Institute has estimated that more than one million Indians remain caught in employment-based Green Card backlogs. For those who eventually obtain permanent residency, naturalisation may be the final stage of a process that has already lasted years or even decades.
Why Does The Trump Administration Want Higher Fees?
The DHS says the current charges do not fully cover the government’s expenses in processing and deciding naturalisation cases.
The department’s position marks a departure from the approach taken by previous administrations, which deliberately kept naturalisation fees below the full processing cost to encourage eligible permanent residents to become citizens. Part of that expense was effectively subsidised through fees collected from people applying for other immigration benefits.
The Trump administration now argues that naturalisation applications should pay for themselves rather than being supported by revenue from other parts of the immigration system.
“U.S. citizenship is the most meaningful immigration benefit the United States can bestow on an alien,” the DHS stated in its proposal.
According to the department, the higher fees would cover the various checks and procedures involved in adjudicating an application. These include FBI background investigations, National Name Check Program screening, checks through the TECS security database, biometric collection, English and civics examinations, and assessments of whether an applicant meets the good moral character requirement.
The government also cited additional vetting measures introduced under recent executive orders.
The proposal is linked to Executive Order 14161, signed by US President Donald Trump in January 2025, which directed federal agencies to strengthen immigration screening and vetting.
The DHS has also suggested that fees set too low may encourage applications from people who do not meet the eligibility requirements, adding to the agency’s processing workload.
Does The Fee Increase Apply Immediately?
No. The figures announced by the DHS are part of a proposed rule and are not yet legally effective.
The public can submit comments on the proposed changes until August 24, 2026, through Regulations.gov.
Once the comment period ends, the department must review the submissions. It may then issue a final rule, alter some provisions or abandon parts of the proposal. A final rule would ordinarily specify when the revised fees are to take effect.
This means eligible Green Card holders who submit complete applications before any new fee schedule becomes effective would remain subject to the current charges.
