Renouncing US citizenship is 80% cheaper: State Department reduces the cost to $450

The U.S. Department of State has significantly reduced the cost of renouncing U.S. citizenship. Last Friday, in an update published in the Federal Register, the agency announced that it would lower the fee for renouncing U.S. citizenship from $2,350 to $450. This represents a discount of more than 80 percent.

“This action is being taken to help alleviate the cost burden for those individuals who decide to request CLN [Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United States] services by returning to the below-cost fee that was in place from 2010-2014,” the State Department said.

The agency also explained that the decision to lower the cost took into account the financial challenges faced by many U.S. citizens living abroad, who have described the previous $2,350 fee as excessive.

Until 2010, renouncing U.S. citizenship was free. That year, the State Department introduced a $450 administrative fee to cover part of the cost incurred by the U.S. government to process and certify the loss of nationality. However, a rise in applications led the agency to increase the fee to $2,350 in 2015, a price that covered the full cost to the government of handling the process.

The proposal to end dual citizenship in the United States

Late last year, Senator Bernie Moreno introduced a bill that would prohibit dual citizenship in the United States. The proposal, known as the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, states that no later than one year after the bill becomes law, U.S. citizens with dual nationality must submit a written renunciation of their foreign citizenship to the Secretary of State, or submit a written renunciation of their U.S. citizenship to the Secretary of Homeland Security.

If a person fails to comply with that requirement, they will be treated as if they had voluntarily renounced their U.S. citizenship. The proposal also requires that if a U.S. citizen applies for foreign citizenship in the future, they must first renounce their U.S. citizenship.

For now, it is unclear how much support the proposal may receive. If approved, it could face legal challenges, similar to other measures implemented by the Trump administration, including the attempt to eliminate U.S. citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants and certain individuals with specific types of visas.

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