Trump plan would increase citizenship application fee by $570

Key Points:

• The Trump administration proposed increasing U.S. citizenship application fees by $570, raising paper application fees from $760 to $1,330 and online fees from $710 to $1,280, while eliminating fee waivers and reductions for low-income applicants.
• Fee waivers for citizenship cases and reductions for immigrants with household incomes at or below 400% of the federal poverty line would be removed, though exemptions for service members would remain.
• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) justified the fee hikes as necessary to fully cover the costs of processing citizenship applications, citing increased vetting requirements under Trump’s executive orders.
• Critics argue the fee increases create additional barriers for legal immigrants seeking citizenship, with some viewing the move as part of a broader effort to restrict legal immigration access.
• The proposal is subject to a 60-day public comment period and further federal rulemaking before taking effect, and it coincides with the administration’s intensified scrutiny of applicants’ "good moral character" and neighborhood checks.