Form N-400, filed online
Amount
US$710
Who this applies to
Most applicants
The most common path to citizenship is filing Form N-400, the Application for Naturalization. This form costs US$760 by Mail or US$710 online as of August 2026. That fee includes biometrics, and there is no separate charge for the English and civics tests.
This is the last fee in a citizenship journey that began years ago, and for most people, it may not be the highest fee they have paid yet.
Beyond Border attorneys have collectively handled 4,000+ immigration cases across O-1, L-1, EB-1, and NIW categories, and if you want to know the cost of getting a US citizenship, it’s best to plan your record accordingly with legal counsel.
It costs around $1,000 to become a US citizen. Filing Form N-400 costs around $710 for online filing and $760 for paper mailing. There are additional fees associated with the naturalization process, such as documentation, certified translations if needed, etc. If you work with an attorney, the fees could go as high as $3,000.
Here’s a breakdown of the associated fees to become a U.S. citizen;
No, it is not. Premium processing is available only for certain Form I-129, Form I-140, Form I-539, and Form I-765 filings. You cannot pay to accelerate a naturalization application. Check the current amounts on the USCIS fee schedule before you file, because fees change.
Depending on your situation, you may also pay for:
Naturalization is the final step of a process that began years earlier, on a nonimmigrant visa, and it is the cheapest step in it. Before you can file Form N-400, you need to have been a permanent resident for 3 to 5 years.
For employment-based applicants, this would look like starting from the O-1A > EB-1A > Naturalization. Each of these stages has its own filing fees.
Employers pay most employment-based petition fees in most cases. So the cost you have to bear is mostly at the adjustment and naturalization stages. And the amounts change very often.
Use the Beyond Border USCIS fee calculator for the specific combination of forms required by your case.
If you were born to, or adopted by, a US citizen parent, or your parents naturalized while you were under 18, you may have acquired citizenship automatically. In that case, you are not applying to become a citizen. You are asking the government to document a status you already hold, and the form is N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship, not the N-400.
USCIS now only accepts electronic payments for naturalization applications and no longer takes checks or money orders. Here’s how you can pay for your filing fees;
Yes, there is. Depending on your household income or military service, you might be eligible to pay a lower fee or have it waived completely
You may request a full waiver, bringing the fee to US$0, if;
Request it with Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, filed together with your N-400 and supported by evidence of your income or benefits.
If your household income falls between 150% and 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, you may qualify for a reduced filing fee of US$380. There is no separate application for this. You submit documentation of your household income together with your Form N-400.
Current and former members of the armed forces naturalizing under sections 328 or 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act do not pay any filing fee. This exemption is set by statute, and the proposed rule would keep it in place.
The Department of Homeland Security, DHS, recently published a proposed rule that increases the fees for Form N-400. Here’s what the new prices are;
This rule has not been implemented yet because there is a 60-day window for the public to comment. After which, USCIS decides what to do;
The N-400 fee is the lowest among the fees in this article. The decisions that determine what becoming a citizen actually costs happen when you apply for your first visa to secure entry to the United States.
That choice is where the money and the years are. An O-1, an EB-1, and an EB-2 NIW have different fees, timelines, and odds of success for a given record.
Beyond Border attorneys will assess your record against those standards and tell you which path fits. Request a free consultation with Beyond Border for an honest assessment of your case, and see our guides to the O-1 visa, the EB-1 green card, and the EB-2 NIW.
Yes, you can. Fee waivers and the reduced fee are available as of August 2026. A full waiver applies if your household income is at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or with certain means-tested benefits, requested using Form I-912.
DHS has proposed increasing the N-400 fee to US$1,330 by mail and US$1,280 online. But it’s not final yet. Public comments close on August 24, 2026, and the current fees apply until a final rule takes effect.
No, there is not. The English and civics tests are covered by the N-400 filing fee, and so are biometrics.
No, it does not. Filing fees pay for the adjudication rather than for a particular outcome, so they are not refunded if an application is denied or withdrawn.
No, you cannot. The full fee is due when you file. If paying it in a single payment is the obstacle, check whether you qualify for a reduced fee or a full waiver before you file.
Yes, they do. Naturalization is filed individually, so each applicant submits their own Form N-400 and pays the applicable fee. Each person is assessed separately for a reduced fee or waiver, so household members may not all pay the same amount.
Processing times vary by field office and change monthly. Our USCIS processing times guide explains how to find the current figure for your office and how to calculate the date by which you can contact USCIS about a delay.
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