The high cost of citizenship hurts our economy

Last month, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) proposed a $35 increase in the application fee to become a naturalized citizen — bringing the total cost to $760. This increase might seem modest, but it raises an already high barrier that prevents millions of low-and-middle-income lawful permanent residents from achieving their American dreams. Naturalized citizens are a vital part of our country’s fabric, and we must ensure that this process is fairly available to all.

Currently, there are over 9 million permanent residents eligible for citizenship, but only 10 percent naturalize each year. High costs, lack of legal knowledge to guide the process and language barriers all prevent lawful permanent residents from naturalizing. For many, the current $725 fee is just the starting point—legal assistance can add thousands of dollars to the total bill. At a time when two in three Americans cannot cover a $400 expense, these costs would be out of reach for many Americans, not just low-income immigrants.

As a result, the number of low-income lawful permanent residents naturalizing each year already lags behind those with higher incomes. Historically, fee increases trigger a dramatic decline in the naturalization of less-educated (and likely lower-income) immigrants and an increase in the number of years immigrants wait to become citizens.

Naturalizing America's lawful permanent residents would not only be transformative for the over 9 million eligible individuals, it would also be a boon to our economy. The employment rate for naturalized citizens is 2.2 percent higher, and they earn 8-11 percent more than eligible permanent residents. Naturalized citizens are also twice as likely as noncitizens to own a home — good for their families, and good for the local tax base. A study by the Urban Institute found that if immigrants in 21 cities who are eligible for naturalization became citizens, federal, state, and city tax revenue would increase by $2 billion. By increasing barriers to naturalization—as the proposal to raise the application fee would do—we lose out on increased spending power, GDP, and tax revenue.

As an American citizen who proudly naturalized, I want to ensure others have the same opportunity, regardless of income. As the director of the New Americans Campaign, I hear inspiring stories of new citizens every day. Manik Abdullah, a young Rohingya man, left his home in Myanmar for a refugee camp in Thailand before immigrating to the United States. Here, Manik has been working and going to school, and thanks to the Indo-American Center he was able to pursue naturalization and get help preparing for the citizenship test. But he had trouble affording the $725 fee and his income was considered too high to qualify for a fee waiver. He had to delay his naturalization until he saved enough, while also needing to send money to his parents who are not able to work while they stay in a refugee camp. Eventually, Manik paid the fee and became a citizen, and he is now pursuing his dream of starting a business.

The Biden administration included naturalization in an executive order on the most urgent priorities for our immigration system, citing the need to remove barriers and improve the process. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) can take three actions to make applying for naturalized citizenship more accessible to all who qualify. First, if the cost is increased as proposed, the agency should proportionally raise the income eligibility threshold for a fee waiver. If fees go up, so should the number of people eligible for a waiver and the dollar amount reduced with a waiver. 

Second, USCIS should use more accurate, means-tested standards to assess who qualifies for a fee waiver, such as Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines, which do a much better job of indicating proportional poverty in a country with vast regional differences in earnings and cost of living. Currently, the threshold is based on a national, not regional, measure of poverty. A lawful permanent resident in San Francisco might not qualify for a fee waiver because their income is too high, even though their income is low relative to the local cost of living. 

Third, USCIS should simplify and reform the process for obtaining fee waivers. At 11 pages, the fee waiver request form adds an additional administrative burden to an already taxing process (the naturalization application is 20 pages long). On top of this, applicants cannot file online if they request a fee waiver. Streamlining this process will remove unnecessary barriers for applicants while also allowing applications to be processed faster. 

We strongly urge USCIS to make these fair adjustments to its fee waiver policies, should the filing fees increase as the agency has proposed. Naturalized citizens and immigration advocates should consider submitting a Comment Letter to USCIS letting them know how costs hinder the citizenship process. The 60-day public comment period closes on March 6, 2023. 

Discriminating against lawful permanent residents based on income level is unfair, especially when immigration status is often the very thing keeping incomes low. In the land of the free, American citizenship cannot become exclusive only to those with the ability to pay. 

Lucia Martel Dow is a naturalized U.S. citizen, immigration attorney and Director of the New Americans Campaign (NAC). Led by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the NAC transforms the way aspiring citizens become new Americans by connecting lawful permanent residents to its network of trusted legal advisors and immigration experts at more than 200 partner organizations across the United States.