This interim final rule (IFR) amends U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations to provide: USCIS may require mandatory electronic filing (e-filing) of certain benefit requests; the process USCIS will follow to require a benefit request to be e-filed; and how a waiver of the e-filing requirement for those individuals unable to file electronically may be requested. This rule is intended to increase digital intake and processing to move USCIS and requestors from a mostly paper process to an electronic process and further enhance the integrity of the immigration system and the security of the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to adjust the fees that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) charges for Form N-400, and Form N-336, to end both the reduced fee option for Form N-400, and the availability of fee waivers for both forms. Current and former armed forces service members would remain exempt from paying the fees when filing for naturalization under statutes for members of the armed forces. The proposed rule is intended to align these fees with the relative costs to adjudicate these forms.

The Department of Homeland Security proposes to limit and clarify eligibility for discretionary employment authorization for aliens paroled into the United States temporarily for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit, who have been granted deferred action, or against whom a final order of removal exists and who are temporarily released from custody on an order of supervision. DHS further proposes to specify that aliens applying for employment authorization who admit to committing, have been arrested for, or have been convicted of certain criminal acts do not warrant a favorable exercise of discretion unless there are significant countervailing public interests, which may include assisting law enforcement activity in the United States.