After Donald Trump came to power in America for the second time, immigrants have started facing many new problems. The Trump administration has proposed a new rule that would greatly increase the cost for immigrants to fill out the forms required to become US citizens. If this rule is implemented, then green cards will also become expensive and it will directly impact Indians living in America.
According to the proposed rule of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the cost of filing Form N-400 (Application for Citizenship) through paper will increase from US $ 760 to US $ 1,330, that is, it will increase by 75 percent. Whereas, the cost of filling the online form will increase from US $ 710 to US $ 1,280, which means it will increase by 80 percent.
60 days moratorium on new proposal
For those whose household income is less than 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, the citizenship application form fee will remain at $380, no change has been proposed in this matter. According to DHS documents, the reduced-fee option is only available for paper filing. However, the new rule proposes to lower the fees for Form N-400 and eliminate the application fee waiver.
This new rule has been proposed under different sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act and Homeland Security Act, 2002. If this rule is implemented, it is likely to have a significant impact on millions of legal permanent residents living in America. Green cards can be very expensive. However, this proposal issued by DHS also states that the new rule will not go into effect until at least 60 days after it is posted, because it will first have to go through a public comment period.
What does this mean for Indians?
A large number of Indians are also included among the immigrants and non-American citizens who get green cards in America every year. According to data from the Ministry of External Affairs of India, there are more than 60 lakh Indians living in America by January 2026, thus exactly 60,79,221 people are Indians. Of these, 37,67,737 are people of Indian origin while 23,11,484 people fall in the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) category.
Although there are no exact figures on how many Indians have got legal permanent resident status (i.e. green card) in the US, data from the Office of Homeland Security Statistics for 2024 shows that 66,800 Indians got green cards.
Reduction in the rate of visas for Indians
Given the recent tension and turmoil regarding H-1B visas, this number may seem very large, but in reality it has decreased by more than 50 percent compared to 2022. In the year 2022, about 1,27,010 Indians became legal permanent residents of America. This number further reduced in the year 2023, when only 78,070 Indians got green cards. In 2024, this number declined further and came down to 66,800.
Despite the small numbers, DHS’s proposed changes to naturalization application fees could have a significant impact on Indians. Due to high fees, Indians may consider other ways to legally reside or settle in America.
What about the H-1B visa dispute?
In September last year, President Trump had increased the fee for H-1B visa application from an average of $2,000 to $100,000. This fee was to be paid to those employers who wanted to invite skilled immigrants to work in America.
The H-1B program is for those employers who hire people for specific types of work or with specific abilities. Through this, many Indians have got the opportunity to work in America. However, the Trump administration believed that the H-1B program was harming its ‘America First’ policy, so to reduce it, the administration increased its fees.
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