08/26/2026
The City of Seattle is proud to join National Partnership for New Americans and Cities For Action Steering Committee cities Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and New York, along with 27 cities and localities in submitting a public comment against proposed naturalization fee hikes.
Through this proposed rule, DHS plans to dramatically increase naturalization fees and simultaneously eliminate the reduced-fee option and fee waivers currently available for low-income applicants seeking citizenship. The NPRM proposes to adjust the naturalization fees for the Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, and the Form N-336, Request for a Hearing on a Decision in Naturalization Proceedings, which allows applicants to seek review of a denied naturalization application.
Through the City's New Citizen Program and since 1997, Seattle's community organization partners have assisted at least 1,000 low-income residents on their paths to citizenship annually.
The proposed rule further eliminates the availability of fee waivers for both forms and ends the reduced fee option for Form N-400. We are deeply concerned that the proposed rule threatens to exclude thousands of aspiring citizens, particularly low-income applicants, from access to citizenship.
Read the full public comment below.
