Opening The Golden Door: Lowering the Cost of Citizenship in the Immigrant Capital of the World

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

For many immigrants, becoming a United States citizen is one of the most important and emotional milestones in their lives, representing the end of a long and arduous journey and the beginning of a new chapter filled with hope and opportunity. As former Secretary of State Madeline Albright has stated, citizenship represents, “not just a change in legal status, but a license to a dream.”1

However, in recent years, the soaring cost of the citizenship application process has erected a barrier to the realization of that dream, hurting immigrant families and serving as a drag on our City’s economy.

This report, by Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, highlights how this high cost represents a significant obstacle for the nearly 670,000 Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) who reside in the City and are eligible for naturalization. This hurdle not only affects the lives of these individuals and their families, but also has profound consequences for the City’s economy. As the report shows:

• The cost of a naturalization application—including the mandatory “biometric fee”—has soared from $60 in 1989 to $680 today, a sum well beyond the reach of many working families. This represents an almost 500 percent increase even after accounting for inflation.2
• These fees are amplified by additional costs that can run into the thousands of dollars, including the cost of English classes (typically around $400 per week for group lessons) and consultations with immigration lawyers (fees can run as high as $1,500).3
• Immigrants who naturalize in New York City experience increases in annual incomes of approximately $1,975 to $3,265,4 boosting wages for individuals and bolstering tax receipts for the City.

New York City has long depended on the strength of immigrant communities to power our economy and strengthen our neighborhoods. For generations, part of the immigrant experience has been securing citizenship and the benefits—economic, political, and social—that come with it.

To that end, this report makes a series of recommendations for action at the federal and local level that can once again bring citizenship within reach for thousands of LPRs:

Federal

1. Congress should direct additional resources to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in order to reduce, or even eliminate, application fees for becoming a citizen. Currently, fees alone are responsible for funding 95 percent of USCIS’s operations.

2. USCIS should conduct more comprehensive fee studies and improve the waiver process. Currently, the USCIS conducts a fee study every two years to assess whether its fees are aligned with the costs of providing its various services. Although the agency offers full fee waivers to households below 150 percent of the poverty line, the waiver process is confusing and inconsistently applied.5  By examining its fee structure more frequently, USCIS will be able to determine if it can lower any fees or offer partial waivers.

3. USCIS should research alternative payment options, including a staggered payment system that enables eligible immigrants to pay fees on an installment plan.

Local

New York City should not wait for Washington to act. Rather, we can take a series of steps right here in the five boroughs:

1. Engage community-based organizations (CBOs) and businesses on a public-private partnership to offer more “on-site” citizenship assistance programs in industries with large immigrant populations.

2. Increase funding for English as a Second Language (ESL) and civics classes to help reduce the hidden costs associated with the citizenship application process, including restoration of the 6,000 adult literacy seats cut from last year’s budget.6

3. Expand free legal services for immigrants by partnering with local law schools and offering public interest fellowships. New York City should increase funding for the various organizations that already provide free, high-quality legal services, and also leverage the power of local law school clinics to provide additional legal representation for immigrants interested in naturalization.

4. Explore innovative microloan financing programs to steer immigrants away from costly predatory lenders and down a path to citizenship.

5. Create a NYC tax credit to encourage employers to subsidize citizenship applications. Businesses that employ immigrant workers should be given the opportunity to participate in a citywide program through which they subsidize a portion of their employees’ application costs in order to qualify for a tax credit. By joining their employees on their journeys to citizenship, employers will be able to establish deeper bonds with their workers and improve retention, productivity, and profitability.

New York City has long benefitted from its reputation as the immigrant capital of the world by drawing people from every corner of the globe to put down roots, build businesses, and raise families. As a result, we have a unique responsibility—and economic interest—in ensuring that the golden door of opportunity remains open to everyone seeking to achieve the American Dream.