Citizenship Affordability Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1862 To limit the fees charged and collected from applicants for naturalization and related benefits based on poverty, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 13, 2019 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. HIRONO, and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Citizenship Afford- 4 ability Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PERMANENT FULL AND PARTIAL INCOME-BASED 6 NATURALIZATION FEE WAIVERS. 7 Section 344(b) of the Immigration and Nationality 8 Act (8 U.S.C. 1455(b)) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1862 IS (1) in the enumerator, by striking ‘‘(b)’’ and in- 1 serting ‘‘(b)(1)’’; and 2 (2) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act or 4 any other law, the following fee waivers shall apply: 5 ‘‘(A) In the case of an alien whose income is 6 less than 150 percent of the Federal poverty line, no 7 fee shall be charged or collected for— 8 ‘‘(i) the filing of an application for natu- 9 ralization or the issuance of a certificate of nat- 10 uralization upon admission to citizenship; 11 ‘‘(ii) the filing of an application to preserve 12 residence for naturalization purposes; 13 ‘‘(iii) the filing of an application for a re- 14 placement naturalization or citizenship docu- 15 ment; 16 ‘‘(iv) the filing of an application for citi- 17 zenship and issuance of certificate of citizenship 18 under section 322 (Form N–600K); 19 ‘‘(v) the filing of an application for certifi- 20 cate of citizenship (Form N–600); or 21 ‘‘(vi) a biometrics capture or background 22 check associated with any application described 23 in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1862 IS ‘‘(B) In the case of an alien whose income is 1 less than 250 percent of the Federal poverty line, 2 not more than 50 percent of the applicable fee shall 3 be charged or collected for— 4 ‘‘(i) the filing of an application for natu- 5 ralization or the issuance of a certificate of nat- 6 uralization upon admission to citizenship; 7 ‘‘(ii) the filing of an application to preserve 8 residence for naturalization purposes; 9 ‘‘(iii) the filing of an application for a re- 10 placement naturalization or citizenship docu- 11 ment; 12 ‘‘(iv) the filing of an application for citi- 13 zenship and issuance of certificate of citizenship 14 under section 322 (Form N–600K); 15 ‘‘(v) the filing of an application for certifi- 16 cate of citizenship (Form N–600); or 17 ‘‘(vi) a biometrics capture or background 18 check associated with any application described 19 in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv). 20 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 21 Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider the receipt 22 of means-tested benefits as a criterion for the purpose of 23 demonstrating eligibility for a fee waiver under paragraph 24 (2). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1862 IS ‘‘(4) In this subsection, the term ‘Federal poverty 1 line’ has the meaning given such term by the Director of 2 the Office of Management and Budget, as revised annually 3 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in ac- 4 cordance with section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget Rec- 5 onciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902).’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS