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 on Monday. “No longer.”