U.S. Reduces Citizenship Renunciation Fee to $450

The U.S. Department of State has reduced the fee for Americans to formally renounce their citizenship from $2,350 to $450, an 80 percent decrease that took effect on April 13. The change, announced through a final rule published in the Federal Register, returns the cost to the level in place when the government first began charging for the process in 2010.

State Department officials described the adjustment as a policy decision to ease the financial burden on individuals seeking a Certificate of Loss of Nationality, the document issued after renunciation is approved. The new fee covers only a fraction of the government's administrative costs but strikes a balance between recouping some expenses and avoiding barriers that might deter applicants, according to the rule. Officials noted that the prior fee, combined with U.S. tax and reporting requirements such as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, had drawn complaints from Americans living abroad who found the process prohibitively expensive.

The fee increase to $2,350 occurred in 2015 amid a sharp rise in renunciation requests, which climbed from 956 cases in 2010 to 3,436 in 2014. Department estimates indicate about 4,661...