How Much Does US Citizenship Cost in 2026? The N-400 Fee Explained

The N-400 filing fee is $760, and the biometrics charge is included rather than billed separately.

That is the headline number. It is not the whole bill, and for a meaningful share of applicants it is not the number they will actually pay — there are both a reduced-fee tier and a full waiver, and between them they cover a large part of the eligible population.

The direct costs

Most applicants with a clean record and a ten-year green card pay $760 and nothing else.

Reduced fee and full waiver

This is the part that goes unmentioned in most write-ups, and it is worth more than any other advice on this page.

Full fee waiver — Form I-912. You pay nothing if you meet any one of three tests:

1. You, your spouse or a dependent receive a means-tested benefit — Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, SSI and similar state programs.
2. Your household income is at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.
3. You are experiencing financial hardship — unexpected medical bills, unemployment, emergency expenses — which you document.

Reduced fee — Form I-942. If your household income is between 150 and 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, you can apply to pay a reduced N-400 fee rather than the full $760.

Two practical rules for either one:

• File it with the application. An N-400 submitted without either the fee or an approved waiver request is rejected and returned.
• Document it properly. Waiver denials are usually evidentiary rather than substantive — a benefit letter that does not name the applicant, or an income figure without supporting proof.

There is also a statutory exemption for certain military applicants, who file under sections 328 or 329 and pay no fee at all.

The costs people forget

The green card came first, and was not free. Most people arriving at naturalization have already paid $1,440 for an I-485 or the consular equivalent, possibly $750 for removal of conditions, and possibly $465 for a renewal along the way. Total lifetime spend to citizenship for a marriage-based applicant is commonly $3,000–$4,000 in government fees alone.

Renewing a green card while the N-400 is pending. If your card expires before you naturalize, you may need to file an I-90 at $465 to keep valid evidence of status — or, in many cases, rely on the N-400 receipt notice, which USCIS has used to extend green card validity. Which applies depends on current policy and your filing date, so check before you spend $465 you may not owe.

Travel. The interview is at your assigned field office, and so is the oath ceremony in many cases. Two trips, time off work, sometimes a flight.

Retaking the test. If you fail the English or civics portion, USCIS reschedules you once at no additional fee. A second failure means a denial and a new application at full price.

Document retrieval. Applicants with any arrest history need certified dispositions from each court, and those charge per copy. This is the single most common surprise cost and the most important one not to skip — see good moral character.

Is the fee worth paying now?

A genuine cost question rather than a rhetorical one, because permanent residents are under no obligation to naturalize.

Reasons the money buys something concrete: you stop renewing a card every ten years at $465 a time; you become ineligible for removal proceedings; you can petition for relatives in faster categories; you can travel without worrying about abandonment of residence; you can vote.

Reasons to wait: you are not yet past the continuous-residence and physical-presence requirements; you have an arrest history you have not yet discussed with counsel; or your country of origin does not permit dual citizenship and that matters to you.

Reason not to wait that people underweight: filing fees do not go down. Every fee adjustment in the last two decades has moved in one direction.

What the fee does not buy

An outcome. The $760 pays for adjudication. If you are denied, you do not get it back, and reapplying costs another $760.

That matters most for applicants with any of the common risk factors — extended trips abroad, unpaid taxes, a failure to register for Selective Service, an arrest of any kind. Every one of these is survivable and several are routine, but each is a reason to get advice before filing rather than after a denial. The civics test changes are worth reading too, since the version you take depends on your filing date.

Common questions

How much is the N-400 filing fee? $760, online or paper, with biometrics included.

Is online filing cheaper? Not for N-400 — the fee is the same either way. Online filing is cheaper for some other forms, including I-130 and I-765.

Can I pay by credit card? Yes, using Form G-1450 with a paper filing, or directly when filing online.

Is the fee refundable if I am denied? No.

How much is it for my spouse and children? Each applicant files their own N-400 and pays their own fee. Children under 18 who automatically derive citizenship through a naturalizing parent do not file N-400 at all — they may instead need Form N-600 at $1,385 for a certificate, or simply apply for a US passport, which is usually cheaper.

That last point is worth repeating, because families routinely file and pay for N-400s that were never required. Check derivation before you file for a child.