Citizenship Affordability Act

Citizenship Affordability Act

This bill provides for waivers and reductions for various naturalization-related fees for individuals below certain income levels. For an individual whose income is less than 150% of the federal poverty line, no fees shall be charged for various applications, such as applications for naturalization or for a replacement citizenship document. For individuals whose income is less than 250% of the federal poverty line, not more than 50% of a naturalization-related fee shall be charged or collected.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3328 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3328

      To limit the fees charged and collected from applicants for 
  naturalization and related benefits based on poverty, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 18, 2019

 Mrs. Torres of California (for herself, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Omar, Mr. 
    Sires, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, and Mr. Carbajal) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To limit the fees charged and collected from applicants for 
  naturalization and related benefits based on poverty, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Citizenship Affordability Act''.

SEC. 2. PERMANENT FULL AND PARTIAL INCOME-BASED NATURALIZATION FEE 
              WAIVERS.

    Section 344(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1455(b)) is amended--
            (1) in the enumerator, by striking ``(b)'' and inserting 
        ``(b)(1)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act or any 
        other law, the following fee waivers shall apply:
                    ``(A) In the case of an alien whose income is less 
                than 150 percent of the Federal poverty line, no fee 
                shall be charged or collected for--
                            ``(i) the filing of an application for 
                        naturalization or the issuance of a certificate 
                        of naturalization upon admission to 
                        citizenship;
                            ``(ii) the filing of an application to 
                        preserve residence for naturalization purposes;
                            ``(iii) the filing of an application for a 
                        replacement naturalization or citizenship 
                        document;
                            ``(iv) the filing of an application for 
                        citizenship and issuance of certificate of 
                        citizenship under section 322 (Form N-600K);
                            ``(v) the filing of an application for 
                        certificate of citizenship (Form N-600); or
                            ``(vi) a biometrics capture or background 
                        check associated with any application described 
                        in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv).
                    ``(B) In the case of an alien whose income is less 
                than 250 percent of the Federal poverty line, not more 
                than 50 percent of the applicable fee shall be charged 
                or collected for--
                            ``(i) the filing of an application for 
                        naturalization or the issuance of a certificate 
                        of naturalization upon admission to 
                        citizenship;
                            ``(ii) the filing of an application to 
                        preserve residence for naturalization purposes;
                            ``(iii) the filing of an application for a 
                        replacement naturalization or citizenship 
                        document;
                            ``(iv) the filing of an application for 
                        citizenship and issuance of certificate of 
                        citizenship under section 322 (Form N-600K);
                            ``(v) the filing of an application for 
                        certificate of citizenship (Form N-600); or
                            ``(vi) a biometrics capture or background 
                        check associated with any application described 
                        in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv).
            ``(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
        Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider the receipt of 
        means-tested benefits as a criterion for the purpose of 
        demonstrating eligibility for a fee waiver under paragraph (2).
            ``(4) In this subsection, the term `Federal poverty line' 
        has the meaning given such term by the Director of the Office 
        of Management and Budget, as revised annually by the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services in accordance with section 673(2) 
        of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 
        9902).''.
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