AP
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The State Department has reduced the fees for Americans to officially renounce their U.S. citizenship by about 80%.
After years of legal battles with groups representing Americans who want to renounce their citizenship, the department published a final rule in the Federal Register on Friday that lowers the fee from $2,350 to $450.
The new fees, which took effect Friday, were promised for 2023 but were never implemented. The current cost is the same as when the State Department first began asking Americans to formally renounce their citizenship in 2010.
Renunciation of U.S. citizenship can be an intensive and time-consuming process. Applicants must repeatedly confirm with multiple written and oral certifications to the State Department consular officer that they understand the implications of this step before being allowed to take the formal oath of renunciation. It must then be considered by the department.
The fee was raised from $450 to $2,350 in 2015 to cover administrative costs, as the number of people seeking to renounce their citizenship soared, in part due to new U.S. tax filing requirements for U.S. expatriates that angered many.
This dramatic fee increase drew significant opposition from groups such as the France-based Association of Accidental Americans, which primarily represents people who reside overseas and obtain U.S. citizenship purely by virtue of being born in the United States.
The association has filed several lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the fees, including a pending case that argues there should be no cost to renounce citizenship.
“The Accident Americans welcomes this decision, which recognizes the need to make this fundamental right accessible to all,” Association President Fabien LeHagre said in a statement. “This victory is the direct result of six years of relentless litigation and advocacy.”
The association said in court that since the 2023 announcement of the reduced fees, at least 8,755 Americans have paid the full $2,350 to renounce their citizenship. The State Department has not disclosed the total number of Americans who have renounced their citizenship.
