Green Card Holders Face 75% Citizenship Fee Increase Under New DHS Proposal

Source: Newsweek

Published Jun 22, 2026 at 10:45 AM EDT updated Jun 22, 2026 at 05:01 PM EDT


The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has proposed raising fees for citizenship applications by about 75 percent, while eliminating fee waivers and reduced rates for most applicants, according to a notice published in the Federal Register.

The rule, published for public comment Monday, marks a major shift in federal policy by aligning naturalization fees with what DHS calls the “full costs” of adjudication, including expanded screening and vetting requirements mandated by recent executive orders.

The changes would affect hundreds of thousands of lawful permanent residents each year, potentially delaying naturalization for lower‑income immigrants and shifting more of USCIS’s operating costs directly onto applicants.

"The proposal represents a significant shift in the cost of becoming a U.S. citizen," Adam Klein, a former Department of Homeland Security official and co-founder of Globali.ai, told Newsweek. "While USCIS is largely a fee-funded agency and must recover its operational costs, substantially increasing naturalization fees risks turning citizenship into a benefit that is less accessible to those of modest means.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/naturalization-fee-increase-dhs-proposed-rule-12104025