The U.S. State Department has reduced the renunciation fee from $2,350 to $450, an 80% cut, and the change takes effect immediately.

The new $450 fee returns the price to the level it was at when the program began in 2010, reversing the 2015 increase that funded administrative costs during a surge in renunciations.

The policy shift is discussed within broader debates over access to citizenship and civil rights, with emphasis on independent journalism monitoring the outcome.

Advocacy groups representing expatriates, notably the Association of Accidental Americans in France, had long challenging the higher fee, arguing it was unconstitutional or should be eliminated.

Following years of legal action and advocacy, the Association of Accidental Americans welcomed the reduction as making renunciation more accessible.

Renunciation remains a lengthy process requiring multiple attestations, reviews by a State Department consular officer, and an official oath before completion.

The final rule was published in the Federal Register and took effect immediately, finalizing the policy change.

Since the 2023 promise of a fee reduction, at least 8,755 Americans had paid the full higher fee, though total renunciations were not disclosed by the State Department.

A correction noted the association’s president’s name as Fabien Lehagre.

The fee reduction was announced with precise timing: it applies to official renunciations, effective today.

The Association of Accidental Americans described the ruling as six years of legal effort to make renunciation a fundamental right more accessible.

The 2015 increase to $2,350 was designed to cover administrative costs amid a surge in renunciations tied to expatriate tax reporting requirements.