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The U.S. Department of State has sharply reduced the fee Americans must pay to formally renounce their citizenship, cutting the cost by roughly 80% after years of legal and political pressure from expatriate advocacy groups.
In a final rule published Friday in the Federal Register, the department lowered the fee from $2,350 to $450. The new price took effect immediately.
The change fulfills a policy shift first announced in 2023 but never implemented until now. The new fee returns the cost to the same level charged when the State Department first began imposing a fee for citizenship renunciation in 2010.
Lengthy process required
Formally giving up U.S. citizenship involves an extensive process overseen by State Department consular officials. Applicants must repeatedly confirm in both written and verbal statements that they understand the consequences of renouncing citizenship before taking a formal oath.
The renunciation request must then be reviewed and approved by the State Department before it becomes official.
Fee hike drew backlash
The department raised the renunciation fee dramatically in 2015, increasing it from $450 to $2,350. Officials said the hike was necessary to cover the administrative costs associated with a growing number of Americans seeking to give up their citizenship.
That increase came amid a surge in renunciations following new U.S. tax-reporting requirements affecting Americans living abroad.
Critics argued the higher fee effectively created a financial barrier to exercising the right to renounce citizenship.
Advocacy group challenges fee
The policy faced sustained legal challenges from the Association of Accidental Americans, a France-based group that represents people who hold U.S. citizenship primarily because they were born in the United States but live abroad.
The organization has filed multiple lawsuits challenging the fee’s constitutionality, including a case that remains pending in federal court arguing that renouncing citizenship should not cost anything.
“The Association of Accidental Americans welcomes this decision, which acknowledges the necessity of making this fundamental right accessible to all,” said Fabien Lehagre, the group’s president.
“This victory is the direct result of six years of relentless legal action and advocacy,” he added in a statement.
Thousands paid higher fee
In court filings, the advocacy group said that since the State Department announced plans in 2023 to lower the fee, at least 8,755 Americans had already paid the full $2,350 cost to renounce their citizenship.
The State Department has not released updated figures for the total number of Americans who have formally renounced their citizenship in recent years.
