The Citizenship Fee May Jump to $1,330. Should You File Your N-400 Now?

If you have been putting off your citizenship application, the price may be about to change the decision for you. On June 23, 2026, DHS proposed raising the fee for Form N-400, the Application for Naturalization, by about 75 percent, and ending the reduced fee and fee waivers that lower-income applicants use. The comment period closed on August 24. The final rule hasn't been published, which means it could come at any time, or be changed, or not come at all.

Here's what the proposal would do, and a practical way to decide whether to file before it takes effect. Facts are current as of September 23, 2026.

The proposed numbers

• Form N-400, filed on paper: from $760 to $1,330, an increase of $570.
• Form N-400, filed online: from $710 to $1,280.
• Reduced fee: the $380 reduced fee for applicants with household income at or below 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines would end.
• Fee waivers: would end for Form N-400 and for Form N-336, the request for a hearing after a naturalization denial.
• Form N-336: from $830 to $1,475 on paper, and $1,425 online.
• Military exemption: stays. Current and former service members naturalizing under the military provisions (INA sections 328 and 329) would still pay nothing.

DHS's stated reason is cost recovery. It says fee-waived and reduced-fee applications shift their cost onto everyone else, and that the full cost of adjudicating an N-400 is higher than the current fee.

Who would feel it most

For an applicant paying full price, the proposal adds $570. For someone who qualifies for a fee waiver today, it adds $1,330. Right now you can ask for a waiver with Form I-912 if you receive a means-tested benefit, if your household income is at or below 150 percent of the poverty guidelines, or if you are in extreme financial hardship. For the reduced fee, the income limit is 400 percent of the guidelines, which covers a large share of working families.

Under the proposal, none of those routes would exist for naturalization. That's why the decision about timing matters most for lower-income applicants and for households where several people are eligible at once, such as a couple who got green cards together.

When a final rule could take effect

There's no way to know the date in advance. What we can say is how the last fee change worked. The 2024 fee rule was published on January 31, 2024 and took effect on April 1, 2024, and the new fees applied to filings postmarked on or after that date. A final version of this rule would state its own effective date and would most likely also turn on the postmark or online submission date. Read that date carefully when the rule comes out.

DHS itself notes, in the proposal, that past fee increases produced a surge of applications just before they took effect. A surge can slow processing for everyone who filed in it.

Can you file now?

You can file Form N-400 up to 90 days before you meet the continuous residence requirement: 90 days before your fifth anniversary as a permanent resident in most cases, or before your third anniversary if you are applying as the spouse of a U.S. citizen and meet that category's other requirements. File any earlier and USCIS will deny the application, and a denial doesn't return the fee. Count carefully from the "Resident Since" date on your green card, not from the date the card arrived.

Meeting the residence date is only one requirement. You also need enough physical presence (generally 30 months in the last five years, or 18 in the last three for the spouse category), three months living in your state or USCIS district, and good moral character during the statutory period.

Filing early can be the right call, but not always

Saving $570, or up to $1,330, is real money. It's a good reason to file if you are already eligible and your case is straightforward. It's a poor reason to rush a case that isn't ready. Slow down and get advice first if any of these apply:

• You have ever been arrested, cited or charged with anything, anywhere, even if it was dismissed.
• You spent six months or more outside the United States on a single trip during the statutory period.
• You owe back taxes, or didn't file a return you were required to file.
• There is anything in your green card case you are unsure about, such as how you got it or information you gave at the time.

An N-400 opens your whole immigration history to review, and that review has become more thorough this year. USCIS reintroduced neighborhood investigations of naturalization applicants on August 25, and on September 14 it issued new guidance on referring cases for denaturalization. Neither is a reason for someone with a clean history to hesitate. Both are reasons for someone with a complicated one to get a lawyer's opinion before paying any fee.

If you decide to file before the change

1. Confirm your early filing date. The rule is in the USCIS Policy Manual, and USCIS offers an early filing calculator on its site.
2. If you want a fee waiver or the reduced fee, file on paper. USCIS says N-400s with a fee waiver or reduced-fee request can't be filed online. Include Form I-912 or the reduced-fee evidence the instructions require.
3. If you are paying the full fee, consider filing online. It's $50 cheaper and you get a receipt right away.
4. Study for the right test. If you file on or after October 20, 2025, you take the 2025 civics test. See what changed and how to study for it.
5. Keep your proof of filing date. If a fee rule takes effect while your package is in the mail, the postmark or submission timestamp is what matters.

Official sources

• Naturalization Application Fee Adjustments, proposed rule, 91 FR 37500 (Federal Register, June 23, 2026)
• Form N-400, Application for Naturalization (USCIS)
• Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver (USCIS)
• USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 12, Part D, Chapter 6: Jurisdiction, Place of Residence, and Early Filing