BLOG
July 9, 2026
GWP IMMIGRATION LAW
The Naturalization Process in 2026: What Form N-400 Actually Requires Now
Approvals swung more in 2025 than in any year USCIS has tracked, and a proposed rule would nearly double what filing costs.
Naturalization is no longer a predictable, evenly-paced process. Approvals fell from a record 88,488 in one month to 32,862 the next January, and DHS has now proposed raising the N-400 filing fee by 75-80% while eliminating fee waivers entirely. Both facts should shape when and how you file.
Updated July 9, 2026 · GWP Law · Las Vegas, NVTHE CONTEXT
Why Timing Matters More Than It Used To
In fiscal year 2024, 818,500 immigrants naturalized — a 7% drop from the 878,500 who did so in FY2023, and well below the 969,400 naturalized in FY2022, the highest annual total in more than a decade, according to Pew Research Center and the Migration Policy Institute. By 2023, roughly 24-25 million naturalized citizens made up 46% of all immigrants in the United States (Pew Research Center).
2025 made that year-over-year decline look tame by comparison. Naturalization approvals hit 88,488 in a single month at their 2025 peak — the highest since USCIS began publishing month-by-month naturalization data in 2022 — then fell to 32,862 by January 2026, the lowest since that tracking began. Applications followed the same pattern: 169,159 people applied to naturalize in October 2025, a four-year record, and only 41,478 applied the following month, according to reporting by NPR.
The swings are not random. Since August 2025, USCIS has applied a stricter “good moral character” standard, reinstated in-person neighborhood investigations that had gone largely unused since 1991, and rolled out a longer, harder civics test. In January 2026, the agency paused naturalization processing for applicants from 39 countries plus holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents. Some applicants who had already been approved were turned away from their own oath ceremonies in December 2025 and into 2026 (NPR). None of this means naturalization is out of reach — most applicants still succeed — but it does mean a case filed casually is more exposed to delay than it would have been three years ago.
Source: USCIS Policy Manual; NPR, April 13, 2026.
Eligibility at a Glance
General eligibility for Form N-400 requires that you:
- Have held permanent resident status for at least 5 years, or 3 years if you obtained it through a U.S. citizen spouse and remain married to and living with that spouse
- Have maintained continuous residence for that period — an absence of a year or more breaks it outright; an absence of six months to a year can raise a rebuttable presumption that it was broken
- Have been physically present in the U.S. for at least half that period (30 months of the last 5 years, or 18 months of the last 3 if applying through marriage)
- Have lived for at least 3 months in the state or USCIS district where you file
- Meet the “good moral character” standard, now evaluated under a stricter policy in effect since August 2025
- Demonstrate basic English and civics knowledge, unless an age- and residency-based exemption or a disability accommodation (Form N-648) applies
- Be willing to take the Oath of Allegiance
If there is any question about whether a specific absence broke continuous residence, that is a question for an attorney before you file — not after USCIS raises it at the interview.
The Filing Process, Step by Step
Fees
| Filing method / category | Current fee |
|---|---|
| Online | $710 |
| Paper | $760 |
| Reduced fee (income 150%-400% of federal poverty guidelines; paper only) | $380 |
| Full fee waiver (Form I-912; income at/below 150% of guidelines or qualifying benefit) | $0 |
| Military naturalization (INA 328/329) | $0 |
| Proposed 2026 rule — online / paper | $1,280 / $1,330 (not yet in effect) |
The biometrics fee has been folded into the base N-400 fee since April 2024 — it is no longer billed separately. On June 23, 2026, DHS published a proposed rule that would raise the N-400 fee to $1,330 (paper) and $1,280 (online), a 75-80% increase, and would eliminate both the $380 reduced fee and Form I-912 fee waivers entirely, while preserving the military exemption. The public comment period runs through August 24, 2026, and the rule is not yet final.
Source: USCIS, Filing Fees; Federal Register, June 23, 2026; Fragomen.
Documents and Evidence
Before completing the N-400, assemble: both sides of your green card; a valid passport and civil documents (birth, marriage, and divorce certificates as applicable); a complete five-year travel history with exact departure and return dates; a five-year history of addresses and employers; five years of tax returns, or a documented explanation of why you were not required to file; and, where applicable, evidence of child support compliance or records related to any arrest or conviction, including matters that were later sealed or occurred as a minor. USCIS can verify nearly all of this independently — an omission generally carries more weight against you than the underlying fact would have.
Submission and Case Tracking
Applications filed online through a USCIS account are paid and tracked digitally from day one. Paper applications are mailed with a check or money order payable to “U.S. Department of Homeland Security” — never to “USCIS” — to the address specified in the current form instructions. Either way, USCIS issues Form I-797 with a 13-character receipt number, which can be used to check case status at any time; the system updates within 24 hours of any movement on the case, per USA.gov. Processing times by form, category, and field office are published on the USCIS Processing Times page. USCIS can be reached at 1-800-375-5283 (TTY 1-800-767-1833), or 212-620-3418 from outside the United States.
Biometrics
Weeks after filing, USCIS schedules a biometrics appointment at an Application Support Center to capture fingerprints, a photograph, and a signature, which feed into background checks with the FBI and other agencies. Bring the appointment notice, your green card, and a secondary form of ID. If you cannot attend, request rescheduling immediately — failing to appear without notice can result in the case being closed for abandonment.
Interview and Testing
At the interview, a USCIS officer reviews the N-400 line by line to confirm it is still accurate, while also assessing spoken English through the exchange itself. The English test has three parts: speaking (assessed throughout the interview), reading (one sentence read aloud correctly), and writing (one dictated sentence written correctly).
For any Form N-400 filed on or after October 20, 2025, the civics test draws from a bank of 128 possible questions; the officer asks up to 20 and you must answer at least 12 correctly. Applications filed before that date remain on the prior 100-question version, which required 6 of 10 correct. Applicants who are 50 or older with 20 years of residence, or 55 or older with 15 years, may take the civics test in their native language; those 65 or older with 20 years of residence qualify for a simplified version. Confirm eligibility for these accommodations with an attorney before the interview, not during it.
Overall, 95.7% of applicants pass the naturalization test, including retests and exemptions, and more than 92% pass the civics portion on the first attempt, per the USCIS Citizenship Resource Center. “Likely” is not “guaranteed”: applicants filed on or after October 20, 2025 should study the current 128-question set, not an older 100-question list.
Decision and Appeal
Following the interview, USCIS will approve the case outright, continue it pending additional documents or a retest, or deny it. A denial may be appealed on Form N-336 within 30 days.
A REAL CASE
An Eight-Month Absence That Almost Cost a Client His Case
A client of ours — I will call him Mr. R. — had held permanent residence for more than five years through his U.S. citizen spouse when he filed his own N-400 without counsel, working from guidance he had found online. The form itself was not the problem.
What he had not accounted for was a single trip of nearly eight months to care for his ailing mother abroad. He assumed that because his spouse was a citizen, the continuous-residence rules applied to him more loosely. They do not. At the interview, the officer asked specific questions about that trip, and Mr. R. had no documentation ready to show that his residence in the United States had continued through it. His case was placed in continued processing while USCIS sought additional evidence.
By the time he came to our office, several months of unnecessary delay had already passed. We built a documented record — lease payments, employment continuity, and the medical circumstances of the trip — establishing that he had never abandoned his U.S. residence. The case was ultimately approved, but it took roughly twice as long as it should have. An absence of more than six months does not automatically end a naturalization case, but it does put the burden on the applicant to prove otherwise, and that proof is far easier to gather before the interview than after.
What to Do Before You File
THE PATH FORWARD
What Comes After You Decide to File
None of the volatility described above changes the underlying legal standard for naturalization — it changes how much margin for error a case has. A well-prepared N-400 accounts for the travel history, the tax record, and the fee category before it is submitted, and treats the interview as a confirmation of a case already built, not a first read of the facts. Given the proposed fee increase now moving through the federal rulemaking process, applicants who are already eligible have a concrete reason to file under the current fee schedule rather than wait for a rule that, if finalized, will make filing meaningfully more expensive and remove the assistance options many applicants currently rely on.
COMMON QUESTIONS
How long does naturalization take in 2026?
It depends heavily on your field office and when you file. Recent ranges run from about 6 to 14 months from filing to the oath ceremony, though monthly processing volume has varied more in the past year than in prior years.
Can I travel while my N-400 is pending?
Short trips generally do not affect a pending case. Longer trips can raise continuous-residence questions at the interview, as in the case described above.
What if my English is limited?
You must take the English test unless you qualify for an age- and residency-based exemption (50 with 20 years of residence, or 55 with 15 years), which allows the civics test to be taken in your native language.
Can I pay the N-400 fee in installments?
No. USCIS does not offer payment plans. The full fee is due at filing unless you qualify for the reduced fee or a full waiver under Form I-912.
What happens if my naturalization application is denied?
You may appeal on Form N-336 within 30 days, or refile later once the issue that caused the denial has been resolved, depending on the grounds.
References
- Pew Research Center, “Key facts about U.S. immigrants,” August 21, 2025 — pewresearch.org
- Migration Policy Institute, “Naturalized Citizens in the United States” — migrationpolicy.org
- NPR, “2025 was one of most volatile years ever for U.S. naturalizations,” April 13, 2026 — npr.org
- USCIS, “Filing Fees” — uscis.gov
- Federal Register, “Naturalization Application Fee Adjustments,” June 23, 2026 — federalregister.gov
- Fragomen, “DHS Proposes Significant Increase in Filing Fees for Naturalization Applications” — fragomen.com
- USCIS, “2025 Civics Test” — uscis.gov
- USCIS Citizenship Resource Center, “Naturalization Test Performance” — uscis.gov
- USA.gov, “Check your immigration case status” — usa.gov
Considering naturalization this year?
We review eligibility, travel history, and fee category before filing — not after USCIS raises a question at the interview.
Book a Consultation →This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney before taking any action. · Last verified: July 9, 2026 · Reviewed by: Kathia Quirós, Immigration Attorney · GWP Immigration Law
