Citizenship Affordability Act

I 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. GARCI´A of Illinois, and Mr. CARBAJAL) introduced the fol- lowing 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 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 22:38 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3328.IH H3328 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3328 IH (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 4 or any other law, the following fee waivers shall 5 apply: 6 ‘‘(A) In the case of an alien whose income 7 is less than 150 percent of the Federal poverty 8 line, no fee shall be charged or collected for— 9 ‘‘(i) the filing of an application for 10 naturalization or the issuance of a certifi- 11 cate of naturalization upon admission to 12 citizenship; 13 ‘‘(ii) the filing of an application to 14 preserve residence for naturalization pur- 15 poses; 16 ‘‘(iii) the filing of an application for a 17 replacement naturalization or citizenship 18 document; 19 ‘‘(iv) the filing of an application for 20 citizenship and issuance of certificate of 21 citizenship under section 322 (Form N– 22 600K); 23 ‘‘(v) the filing of an application for 24 certificate of citizenship (Form N–600); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3328.IH H3328 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3328 IH ‘‘(vi) a biometrics capture or back- 1 ground check associated with any applica- 2 tion described in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and 3 (iv). 4 ‘‘(B) In the case of an alien whose income 5 is less than 250 percent of the Federal poverty 6 line, not more than 50 percent of the applicable 7 fee shall be charged or collected for— 8 ‘‘(i) the filing of an application for 9 naturalization or the issuance of a certifi- 10 cate of naturalization upon admission to 11 citizenship; 12 ‘‘(ii) the filing of an application to 13 preserve residence for naturalization pur- 14 poses; 15 ‘‘(iii) the filing of an application for a 16 replacement naturalization or citizenship 17 document; 18 ‘‘(iv) the filing of an application for 19 citizenship and issuance of certificate of 20 citizenship under section 322 (Form N– 21 600K); 22 ‘‘(v) the filing of an application for 23 certificate of citizenship (Form N–600); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3328.IH H3328 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3328 IH ‘‘(vi) a biometrics capture or back- 1 ground check associated with any applica- 2 tion described in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and 3 (iv). 4 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of 5 law, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall con- 6 sider the receipt of means-tested benefits as a cri- 7 terion for the purpose of demonstrating eligibility for 8 a fee waiver under paragraph (2). 9 ‘‘(4) In this subsection, the term ‘Federal pov- 10 erty line’ has the meaning given such term by the 11 Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 12 as revised annually by the Secretary of Health and 13 Human Services in accordance with section 673(2) 14 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 15 (42 U.S.C. 9902).’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3328.IH H3328 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS