THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
As followers of this case may recall, in L'Association des Américains Accidentels, et al. v. U.S. Department of State, et al., Case No. 20-cv-3573, the plaintiffs, residing in some 13 different countries around the world, have asked the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to rule for the first time in history that Americans have a fundamental right to expatriate and renounce their U.S. citizenship under the U.S. Constitution. The Renunciation Fee – currently set at $2,350 – is the highest by far charged by any nation for the voluntary renunciation of citizenship. Many countries charge nothing for the right to expatriate, which was the case in the United States for over 200 years.
Currently pending before the court are cross-motions for summary judgment. According to the plaintiffs, these motions have been pending for over a year. Finally, on December 5, 2022, the court (Judge Tanya Chutkan) scheduled an in-person oral argument on the pending motions, set for January 9, 2023.
On January 6, 2023, only a few days before the hearing and as preparations for oral argument were at their highest, the State Department notified the court that it intends to reduce the $2,350 renunciation fee to $450. A copy of the notice to the court and the declaration of Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs are attached. In the notice, the State Department asks the court to postpone the hearing on the merits of the case to give the government time to go through the regulatory process to reduce the fee. Counsel for the Plaintiffs, Marc Zell and Noam Schreiber, have opposed the government's request to postpone the oral argument, for reasons stated in the motion.
Fabien Lehagre, founder and president of the Association of Accidental Americans, commented: "The State Department’s statement is extremely encouraging and tacitly acknowledges that this legal challenge has and will accomplish what it set out to do. By lowering the fee to $450, the U.S. government is showing that the right of voluntary expatriation is not to be trifled with and deserves the utmost protection. Time will tell how the government will formulate and develop the new fee and my organization intends to continue to campaign against any fee or restriction on this sacred right of renunciation."
