US Code

Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

8 U.S.C. § 1455

Fiscal provisions

(a)
section 9701 of title 31 The Attorney General shall charge, collect, and account for fees prescribed by the Attorney General pursuant to for the following:
(1)
Making, filing, and docketing an application for naturalization, including the hearing on such application, if such hearing be held, and a certificate of naturalization, if the issuance of such certificate is authorized by the Attorney General.
(2)
Receiving and filing a declaration of intention, and issuing a duplicate thereof.
(b)
Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or any other law, no fee shall be charged or collected for an application for declaration of intention or a certificate of naturalization in lieu of a declaration or a certificate alleged to have been lost, mutilated, or destroyed, submitted by a person who was a member of the military or naval forces of the United States at any time after , and before ; or at any time after , and before ; or who served on the Mexican border as a member of the Regular Army or National Guard between June 1916 and April 1917; or who has served or hereafter serves in the military, air, or naval forces of the United States after , and who was not at any time during such period or thereafter separated from such forces under other than honorable conditions, who was not a conscientious objector who performed no military duty whatever or refused to wear the uniform, or who was not at any time during such period or thereafter discharged from such military, air, or naval forces on account of alienage.
(c)
section 1356(q)(2) of this titlesection 1356(m) of this titleProvided, however Except as provided by or any other law, all fees collected by the Attorney General shall be deposited by the Attorney General in the Treasury of the United States except that all such fees collected or paid over on or after , shall be deposited in the Immigration Examinations Fee Account established under : , That all fees received by the Attorney General from applicants residing in the Virgin Islands of the United States, and in Guam, under this subchapter, shall be paid over to the treasury of the Virgin Islands and to the treasury of Guam, respectively.
(d)
During the time when the United States is at war the Attorney General may not charge or collect a naturalization fee from an alien in the military, air, or naval service of the United States for filing an application for naturalization or issuing a certificate of naturalization upon admission to citizenship.
(e)
In addition to the other fees required by this subchapter, the applicant for naturalization shall, upon the filing of an application for naturalization, deposit with and pay to the Attorney General a sum of money sufficient to cover the expenses of subpenaing and paying the legal fees of any witnesses for whom such applicant may request a subpena, and upon the final discharge of such witnesses, they shall receive, if they demand the same from the Attorney General, the customary and usual witness fees from the moneys which the applicant shall have paid to the Attorney General for such purpose, and the residue, if any, shall be returned by the Attorney General to the applicant.
(f)
(1)
The Attorney General shall pay over to courts administering oaths of allegiance to persons under this subchapter a specified percentage of all fees described in subsection (a)(1) collected by the Attorney General with respect to persons administered the oath of allegiance by the respective courts. The Attorney General, annually and in consultation with the courts, shall determine the specified percentage based on the proportion, of the total costs incurred by the Service and courts for essential services directly related to the naturalization process, which are incurred by courts.
(2)
The Attorney General shall provide on an annual basis to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of the Senate a detailed report on the use of the fees described in paragraph (1) and shall consult with such Committees before increasing such fees.

June 27, 1952, ch. 47766 Stat. 264Pub. L. 85–508, § 2672 Stat. 351Pub. L. 90–609, § 382 Stat. 1200Pub. L. 97–116, § 1695 Stat. 1619Pub. L. 100–459, title II, § 209(b)102 Stat. 2203Pub. L. 100–525, § 9(ff)102 Stat. 2621Pub. L. 101–649, title IV, § 407(c)(20)104 Stat. 5041Pub. L. 102–232, title I, § 102(b)(3)l105 Stat. 1736Pub. L. 107–273, div. C, title I, § 11016(1)116 Stat. 1824(, title III, ch. 2, § 344, ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , (d)(19), , , 5046; , title III, §§ 305(), 309(a)(1)(A)(ii), (b)(14), , , 1750, 1758, 1759; , , .)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

act June 27, 1952, ch. 47766 Stat. 163section 1101 of this titleThis chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original, “this Act”, meaning , , known as the Immigration and Nationality Act, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under and Tables.

Amendments

Pub. L. 107–273section 1356(q)(2) of this title2002—Subsec. (c). substituted “Except as provided by or any other law, all” for “All”.

Pub. L. 102–232, § 305lPub. L. 101–649, § 407(d)(19)(A)(i)1991—Subsec. (a). (), made technical correction to . See 1990 Amendment note below.

Pub. L. 102–232, § 309(b)(14)Pub. L. 102–232, § 309(a)(1)(A)(ii)Subsec. (c). , which provided for a clarifying amendment to subsec. (c), could not be executed, because the phrase which was to be amended did not appear after the amendment by , see below.

Pub. L. 102–232, § 309(a)(1)(A)(ii)Pub. L. 100–459, amended . See 1988 Amendment note for subsec. (g) below.

Pub. L. 102–232, § 102(b)(3)Subsec. (f). , added subsec. (f).

Pub. L. 101–649, § 407(d)(19)(A)(i)Pub. L. 102–232, § 305l1990—Subsec. (a). , as amended by (), substituted “The Attorney General” for “The clerk of court”.

Pub. L. 101–649, § 407(c)(20)Subsec. (a)(1). , (d)(19)(A)(ii), (iii), substituted “an application” for “a petition” and “application” for “petition”, struck out “final” before “hearing”, and substituted “the Attorney General” for “the naturalization court”.

Pub. L. 101–649, § 407(d)(19)(B)section 1421 of this titleSubsec. (c). , (C), (F), redesignated subsec. (g) as (c), struck out “, and all fees paid over to the Attorney General by clerks of courts under the provisions of this subchapter,” before “shall be deposited by” and “or by the clerks of the courts” before “from applicants residing in”, and struck out former subsec. (c) which read as follows: “The clerk of any naturalization court specified in subsection (a) of (except the courts specified in subsection (d) of this section) shall account for and pay over to the Attorney General one-half of all fees up to the sum of $40,000, and all fees in excess of $40,000, collected by any such clerk in naturalization proceedings in any fiscal year.”

Pub. L. 101–649, § 407(c)(20)Provided, howeverSubsec. (d). , (d)(19)(B), (D), (F), redesignated subsec. (h) as (d), substituted “the Attorney General may not” for “no clerk of a United States court shall” and “an application” for “a petition”, struck out before period at end “, and no clerk of any State court shall charge or collect any fee for such services unless the laws of the State require such charge to be made, in which case nothing more than the portion of the fee required to be paid to the State shall be charged or collected. A report of all transactions under this subsection shall be made to the Attorney General as in the case of other reports required of clerks of courts by this subchapter” and struck out former subsec. (d) which read as follows: “The clerk of any United States district court (except in the District Court of the Virgin Islands of the United States and in the District Court of Guam) shall account for and pay over to the Attorney General all fees collected by any such clerk in naturalization proceedings: , That the clerk of the District Court of the Virgin Islands of the United States and of the District Court of Guam shall report but shall not be required to pay over to the Attorney General the fees collected by any such clerk in naturalization proceedings.”

Pub. L. 101–649, § 407(c)(20)Subsec. (e). , (d)(19)(B), (E), (F), redesignated subsec. (i) as (e), substituted “an application” for “a petition” and “applicant” for “petitioner” wherever appearing, substituted references to Attorney General for references to clerk of court wherever appearing, and struck out former subsec. (e) which read as follows: “The accounting required by subsections (c) and (d) of this section shall be made and the fees paid over to the Attorney General by such respective clerks in their quarterly accounts which they are required to render to the Attorney General within thirty days from the close of each quarter of each and every fiscal year, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Attorney General.”

Pub. L. 101–649, § 407(d)(19)(B)Subsec. (f). , struck out subsec. (f) which read as follows: “The clerks of the various naturalization courts shall pay all additional clerical force that may be required in performing the duties imposed by this subchapter upon clerks of courts from fees retained under the provisions of this section by such clerks in naturalization proceedings.”

Pub. L. 101–649, § 407(d)(19)(F)Subsecs. (g) to (i). , redesignated subsecs. (g) to (i) as (c) to (e), respectively.

Pub. L. 100–525section 9701 of title 3165 Stat. 2901988—Subsec. (a). substituted “” for “title V of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1952 ()” in introductory provisions.

Pub. L. 100–459Pub. L. 102–232, § 309(a)(1)(A)(ii)section 1356(m) of this titleSubsec. (g). , as amended by , inserted “except that all such fees collected or paid over on or after , shall be deposited in the Immigration Examinations Fee Account established under ” after “Treasury of the United States”.

Pub. L. 97–1161981—Subsec. (c). substituted “$40,000” for “$6,000” in two places.

Pub. L. 90–609section 483a of title 311968—Subsec. (a). inserted reference to and substituted provisions making reference to setting of fees by Attorney General for provisions establishing fees of $10 and $5 respectively for covered services.

Pub. L. 90–609Subsec. (b). struck out provisions setting fixed dollar amounts for specified services to be charged, collected, and accounted for by Attorney General.

Pub. L. 90–609Subsec. (g). substituted fees received under this subchapter for fees received under subsec. (b) of this section as description of fees received from applicants residing in the Virgin Islands of the United States and in Guam which are turned over to the treasury of the Virgin Islands and Guam respectively.

Pub. L. 85–5081958—Subsec. (d). struck out “in Alaska and” before “in the District Court of the Virgin Islands”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1991 Amendment

section 102(b)(3) of Pub. L. 102–232section 102(c) of Pub. L. 102–232section 1421 of this titleAmendment by effective 30 days after , see , set out as a note under .

lPub. L. 102–232Pub. L. 101–649section 310(1) of Pub. L. 102–232section 1101 of this titleAmendment by section 305() of effective as if included in the enactment of the Immigration Act of 1990, , see , set out as a note under .

section 309(a)(1)(A)(ii) of Pub. L. 102–232Pub. L. 100–459, title IIsection 309(a)(3) of Pub. L. 102–232section 1356 of this titleAmendment by effective as if included in the enactment of the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 1989, , see , as amended, set out as a note under .

Effective Date of 1981 Amendment

Pub. L. 97–116section 21(b)(2) of Pub. L. 97–116section 1101 of this titleAmendment by applicable to fiscal years beginning on or after , see , set out as a note under .

Abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service and Transfer of Functions

section 1551 of this titleFor abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service, transfer of functions, and treatment of related references, see note set out under .

Executive Documents

Admission of Alaska as State

Pub. L. 85–508section 8(b) of Pub. L. 85–508Pub. L. 85–508section 21 of Title 48Effectiveness of amendment of this section by was dependent on admission of Alaska into the Union under . Admission was accomplished on issuance of Proc. No. 3269, , 24 F.R. 81, 73 Stat. c16, as required by sections 1 and 8(c) of . See notes preceding former , Territories and Insular Possessions.