The Rising Cost of Becoming A Citizen

Starting July 30, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, will raise fees for the citizenship application, for adjusting status to permanent residency, and for other immigration applications.

For those applying to become citizens, the total cost will increase from $400 to $675. To adjust status to become a permanent U.S. resident, the fee will cost slightly over $1,000 for anyone over age 14, and $600 to $930 for kids ages 14 and under.

USCIS, which must cover more than 90% of its expenses from fees, says the increased costs are necessary to improve services, modernize the department, and reduce processing time for applications by an average of 20% over two years.

The department said it received nearly 4,000 public comments in response to its initial announcement in February that fees would increase. Most comments were in opposition to the fee increases, according to a spokesperson for USCIS.

"One of the things we realized from the comments was that when you look at a family adjusting status, or a family applying for a green card, the cost for a family would be really, really high," said Shawn Saucier, a spokesperson for USCIS. "So we try to look at that and we try to lessen the financial burden on a family adjusting status."