While a promised rollback had stalled for years, legal action and sustained lobbying forced the State Department to revisit a fee increase that critics said put a financial barrier on a fundamental right.
The State Department has reduced the fee to formally renounce American citizenship by about 80 percent, lowering it from $2,350 to $450. The change was made through a final rule published in the Federal Register and took effect on Friday.
In the rule, the State Department said it cut the renunciation fee after years of complaints from Americans living abroad that the cost, combined with U.S. tax and reporting rules such as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, made giving up citizenship financially burdensome.
The State Department described the cut as a policy decision aimed at reducing the cost burden on people seeking a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (CLN), the document issued after renunciation is approved.
Officials said the $450 fee does not cover the government's full costs but was chosen to reduce barriers while still recovering some expenses, rejecting calls for refunds, fee waivers, or retroactive relief.
That new price returns the fee to the level first charged in 2010, when the government began requiring payment for formal renunciations.
Officials had announced plans to cut the fee back in 2023, but the change had not been implemented until now.
Renouncing U.S. citizenship is not a simple administrative step. Applicants must appear before a U.S. consular officer, repeatedly confirm they understand the consequences, and formally take an oath of renunciation. Each case is then reviewed by the State Department before a loss of nationality is confirmed.
The fee had been increased sharply in 2015, rising from $450 to $2,350.
At the time, the department said the higher cost was needed to cover administrative expenses as demand surged, partly driven by new U.S. tax reporting requirements affecting Americans abroad.
That increase triggered backlash from advocacy groups, particularly those representing so‑called "accidental Americans" -- people who hold U.S. citizenship because they were born in the country but have lived most or all of their lives elsewhere.
Several lawsuits were filed challenging whether such a high fee was constitutional. One of the groups involved was the France‑based Association of Accidental Americans, which represents people living abroad whose U.S. citizenship is based solely on birth.
It has filed several lawsuits challenging the fee, including one still before the courts, arguing that there should be no charge to renounce citizenship.
Fabien Lehagre, president of the Association of Accidental Americans, said: "The Association of Accidental Americans welcomes this decision, which acknowledges the necessity of making this fundamental right accessible to all. This victory is the direct result of six years of relentless legal action and advocacy."
The federal rule reads: "This action is being taken to help alleviate the cost burden for those individuals who decide to request CLN services by returning to the below-cost fee that was in place from 2010-2014."
It adds: "The Department concludes that a fee of $450, although only a fraction of the cost of providing the service, balances the need for the U.S. government to recoup at least some of its costs with the objective of charging a fee that does not deter individuals from seeking CLN services."
Attention is likely to shift back to the courts where at least one legal challenge arguing that renunciation should carry no fee at all remains unresolved.
The change may also renew broader debate over how U.S. citizenship, taxation, and overseas Americans are treated in future policy reviews.
Reporting from the Associated Press contributed to this article.