How to Renounce American Citizenship: Process, Fee, and Exit Tax

To renounce American citizenship, you must travel outside the United States, appear in person at a U.S. embassy or consulate, sign an oath of renunciation before a consular officer, and pay a $450 processing fee.¹ The Department of State then reviews your case and, if approved, issues a Certificate of Loss of Nationality that permanently ends your citizenship. Before you get there, you should understand what the law requires, what the appointment looks like, and the tax bill that can follow you out the door.

Where and How You Can Renounce

The authority for renunciation comes from Section 349(a)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1481(a)(5). The statute requires three things: you must appear in person before a U.S. consular or diplomatic officer, you must be physically located in a foreign country when you do it, and you must sign a formal oath of renunciation.² You cannot renounce inside the United States during peacetime. For practical purposes, that means a trip to an embassy or consulate abroad.

Two conditions have to be satisfied beyond the logistics. The decision must be entirely voluntary, and you must intend to give up your nationality permanently. The consular officer evaluates both by discussing the consequences with you and confirming no one is pressuring you. If the officer is not satisfied on either point, they can decline to administer the oath.³

Renunciation is irrevocable. Once approved, it cannot be undone except through a successful administrative or judicial appeal. The only narrow reversal available is for someone who renounced before turning 18, who can request reinstatement by contacting the Department of State within six months after their 18th birthday.

What If You Don’t Have Another Citizenship?

No law strictly forbids renouncing without holding citizenship in another country, but the State Department strongly discourages it. Anyone who renounces without a second nationality becomes stateless, loses the protection of any government, and would likely be unable to obtain a passport anywhere, making international travel extremely difficult.⁴ A consular officer who suspects you don’t grasp what statelessness means may refuse to proceed on the ground that you lack the required intent.

Forms and Documents to Prepare

Before your appointment, complete three Department of State forms, all available from the embassy or consulate where you plan to appear.

DS-4079, Questionnaire — Loss of United States Nationality. This covers your personal history, including residences, travel, and any acts that may have already affected your citizenship status.⁵
DS-4080, Oath/Affirmation of Renunciation of Nationality. The formal declaration you recite and sign at the appointment.
DS-4081, Statement of Understanding. Confirmation that you’ve been informed of the legal consequences, including loss of consular protection and the right to live in the United States.

You also need proof of U.S. nationality: a U.S. passport, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, a Certificate of Naturalization, or a U.S. birth certificate. If you already hold another citizenship, bring that foreign passport or naturalization certificate too. Inconsistencies between the forms and your documents will slow things down.

The Appointment and the Fee

Appointments are booked directly with the embassy or consulate, usually through an online system or by emailing the American Citizen Services unit. Waits vary; some posts in high-demand cities have backlogs of several months.

At the appointment, the consular officer reviews your paperwork, confirms your identity, and walks through the consequences of renunciation with you. It is not a formality. The officer has to be personally satisfied that you understand what you are doing and that the decision is your own.³ You then recite the Oath of Renunciation aloud and sign the DS-4080 in the officer’s presence. That signature is the legal act.

The fee is $450, effective April 13, 2026.¹ It is non-refundable, even if your request is later denied or you change your mind. Payment is typically accepted by credit card or in the local currency.

Getting Your Certificate of Loss of Nationality

The consular officer does not have final authority. After the appointment, your file goes to the Department of State in Washington, D.C., for legal review to verify that every statutory requirement was met.³

If approved, the government issues a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (CLN). This is your permanent proof that you are no longer a U.S. citizen. The State Department describes the timeline only as “several months” and does not guarantee a date. You’ll also receive your canceled U.S. documents, such as a voided passport. Keep the CLN safely; you will need it for tax filings, for foreign banks, and potentially for the rest of your life whenever your former nationality is questioned.

The Tax Bill You May Still Owe

Renunciation does not end your relationship with the IRS on the day you sign the oath. You still owe U.S. tax for the year in which you expatriate, and if your income or net worth is high enough, an additional exit tax applies on top.

Are You a Covered Expatriate?

The exit tax applies only to “covered expatriates.” You are one if any of the following is true on the date you renounce:⁶

Your net worth is $2 million or more.
Your average annual net income tax liability over the five years before expatriation exceeds the inflation-adjusted threshold (roughly $206,000 in recent years; the IRS publishes the current figure each year).
You cannot certify that you have complied with all federal tax obligations for the five preceding years.

Two narrow exceptions can spare you from covered status under the net worth and tax liability tests: dual citizens from birth who have lived in the U.S. for no more than 10 of the past 15 tax years and are taxed as residents of their other country, and people who renounce before age 18½ after fewer than 10 tax years of U.S. residence.⁷ The certification test still applies to everyone. Unfiled returns or unpaid taxes make you a covered expatriate regardless of your net worth.

The Mark-to-Market Tax

If you are a covered expatriate, the IRS treats all of your worldwide assets as if you sold them at fair market value the day before you renounced.⁷ Unrealized gains above an exclusion amount are taxed as income. For 2026 the exclusion is $910,000, and gain above that is taxed at ordinary income rates. Nothing actually has to be sold; the tax is owed as if it were. For someone with appreciated real estate, retirement accounts, or a stock portfolio, the bill can be substantial.

Form 8854 and the $10,000 Penalty

Everyone who renounces must file IRS Form 8854, Initial and Annual Expatriation Statement, with their federal tax return for the year they expatriate.⁸ The form is what tells the IRS whether you are a covered expatriate and calculates any exit tax due. It attaches to your Form 1040 or 1040-NR for the year that includes your expatriation date.⁹

Failing to file Form 8854 triggers a $10,000 penalty. The penalty applies whether or not you owe any exit tax, because it is for not filing the form itself. It can be waived for reasonable cause, but that is not something to plan around. The IRS also publishes the names of everyone who renounces citizenship in the Federal Register each quarter, so there is no private way out.¹⁰

Gifts and Inheritances to People Still in the U.S.

Under IRC Section 2801, any U.S. citizen or resident who later receives a gift or inheritance from a covered expatriate owes a 40% tax on the value above the annual gift tax exclusion. If you become a covered expatriate and later transfer money or property to family members in the United States, they can face a steep tax bill that would not have existed had you remained a citizen.

Life After You Renounce

Traveling Back to the United States

Once the CLN is issued, the U.S. treats you as a foreign national. You need a visa or must qualify under the Visa Waiver Program to enter, the same as any other non-citizen.³ If the Department of Homeland Security determines that you renounced to avoid U.S. taxes, you can be permanently barred from entering under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(10)(E), sometimes called the Reed Amendment.¹¹ Enforcement has historically been rare, but the statute is in force and gives the government wide discretion.

Social Security

Renouncing does not automatically eliminate Social Security benefits you earned by working in the United States; those depend on your work history, not your current citizenship. As a non-citizen living abroad, though, your benefits can be suspended or reduced depending on where you live. The general rule is that non-citizens cannot receive Social Security payments after six consecutive months outside the U.S., with exceptions for residents of countries that have totalization agreements with the United States.¹² If you rely on this income, check the SSA’s Payments Abroad Screening Tool for your country before you sign the oath.

Foreign Banking and FATCA

Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, foreign financial institutions must identify U.S. citizens among their customers and report those accounts to the IRS. If your bank spots U.S. indicators, most commonly a U.S. birthplace, it will ask for a Social Security number or documentation proving you are no longer a citizen.¹³ Your CLN is that documentation. Without it, some banks will freeze or close accounts rather than deal with the compliance burden. That is one of the practical reasons people renounce, and it is also why the wait for the CLN matters: until it arrives, you can be stuck having given up your citizenship without being able to prove it.

Former citizens who need to clean up past filings before their expatriation can be treated cleanly should review the IRS’s relief procedures, which allow eligible individuals to file back returns and avoid covered expatriate status, provided the submission is complete and includes proof of loss of nationality.¹³

1
Federal Register. Schedule of Fees for Consular Services – Fee for Administrative Processing of Request for Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United States
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1481 – Loss of Nationality by Native-Born or Naturalized Citizen
3
U.S. Department of State. Relinquishing U.S. Nationality Abroad
4
U.S. Department of State. Oath of Renunciation of U.S. Citizenship – INA 349(a)(5)
5
U.S. Department of State. DS-4079 – Questionnaire – Loss of United States Nationality; Attestations
6
Internal Revenue Service. Expatriation Tax
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 877A – Tax Responsibilities of Expatriation
8
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8854, Initial and Annual Expatriation Statement
9
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8854 (2025)
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6039G – Information on Individuals Losing United States Citizenship
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
12
Social Security Administration. SSA Payments Outside US
13
Internal Revenue Service. Relief Procedures for Certain Former Citizens