I-942: What You Need to Know

Do you want to receive a fee waiver while submitting your U.S. citizenship application to the USCIS but you don’t qualify? Can you still request a reduction of the filing fee? The good news is that you can! All you need to do is file form I-942.

What Is Form I-942?

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) introduced Form I-942 in 2016. This was done in an attempt to reduce the filing fees that a qualified applicant has to incur while applying to become a U.S. citizen. Form I-942 is meant for those individuals who do not receive a fee waiver. Here, the fee is reduced to $320 for those who qualify. In addition, the biometric fee is reduced to only $85!

Who Needs to File Form I-942?

All those applicants who were unable to get a fee waiver are eligible to file Form I-942. You are required to file this form in conjunction with Form N-400 for an application for naturalization. If your household income is more than 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines but less than 200 percent of the same guidelines, you could file Form I-942. If your income does not fall under this bracket and is less than 150 percent of the guidelines, you could file for a complete fee waiver instead. On the other hand, for incomes more than this bracket, no fee waiver or reduction will be approved.

Required Documents for Form I-942

What are the documents required for filing Form I-942? First and foremost, your household income needs to be documented in order to be eligible for this fee reduction application. Apart from that, the applicant’s federal tax return is a mandatory document (referring to the most recent tax return). What happens if the applicant did not file a tax return or this document does not appropriately reflect their current income? In that case, a combination of a recent pay statement, Form W-2 and/or Form SSA-1099, is required.

How to Fill Out Form I-942

Form I-942 features 8 different parts that need to be filled out by applicants:

Part 1 – This section is where the applicant provides their basic information, including name, date of birth, marital status, and the alien number from the Green Card.

Part 2 – In case the applicant has other members of the family who are also filing for a fee reduction, this is where all their information should be inserted.

Part 3 – This part of the form contains information regarding the applicant’s income, the income of the other members of the household, and reasons describing why a fee reduction is needed.

Part 4 – This is where the primary applicant or requestor needs to provide their signature in order to complete the form.

Part 5 – If there are other family members applying for a fee reduction and they used an interpreter to understand the contents of the form, then this section should be filled out.

Part 6 – If the primary requestor used an interpreter, this is where it should be documented.

Part 7 – If the applicant received help from someone to fill out the form, this is where it should be noted.

Part  8 – This is an additional section provided in case the applicant runs out of space and needs to fill in additional information.

Where to File Form I-942?

Form I-942 is filed along with an N-400 application for naturalization. In other words, both applications are filed together. Thereafter, the applications should be sent via mail to the address provided on the N-400 form. However, filing the N-400 alone would not allow for the fee reduction that the I-924 could provide.

How Much Does I-942 Cost?

Form I-942 does not have any filing fee associated with it. It can be filed free of charge. However, there are some payments you would have to make with the form. These would include the reduced fee of $320 and the biometric charge of $85. The latter is mostly used for form N-400. Those are the payments that need to be made with Form I-942.

I-942 Processing Time

The processing time for a fee reduction application via Form I-942 is the same as the fee waiver application. In an ideal situation, the whole application is processed within a period of 5 working days. However, sometimes there are lags and delays in the process. More often than not, this is due to unavoidable circumstances. In these situations, if the request has been filed for more than 30 days, an email could be written to the USCIS to follow up on the issue. In case your application is denied or rejected, you would get all the information from the USCIS’ issuance of the Form I-797.

Form I-942 FAQ

Form I-942 is only valid for people who are not eligible for a fee waiver but have an income below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. Here are some frequently asked questions:

What is the reduced fee?

The reduced fee rate has been brought down to half of the original fee. The final amount stands at $320.

Do I need to pay that with the application?

Yes, you would be required to pay the reduced fee and the biometric charges along with the application.

Can I file the application online?

No. Unfortunately, there is no online version of Form I-942. This means applicants would be required to submit the paper version or the hard copy of the form along with form N-400. A physical signature is mandatory for this application.

What happens after I file?

After you file Form I-942, you would be required to wait for anything between 5 days to a few weeks before you get a response. The approval or rejection of the application would be communicated to you by the USCIS via Form I-797.

The Wrap Up

As you could see, form I-942 is merely a reduction of the filing charges and is not a complete waiver. All documents are required to be submitted properly over mail, along with the necessary information to process the application.

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

See author's posts