Citizenship renunciation class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Four former U.S. citizens filed a class action lawsuit against the federal government.
- Why: They allege the $2,350 fee they paid to voluntarily renounce their U.S. citizenship was “exorbitant.”
- Where: The citizenship class action lawsuit was filed in D.C. federal court.
A group of former U.S. citizens have filed a class action lawsuit against the federal government alleging the $2,350 citizenship renouncement fee they were required to pay is “exorbitant.”
Plaintiffs Esther Jenke, Jane Rachel Heller, Nina Nelson and Arianna Poli are former U.S. citizens who allege that the fee amount is not based on the U.S. State Department’s actual costs to facilitate their citizenship renouncement, allegedly in violation of the Independent Offices Appropriations Act.
“The fee was arbitrary, capricious, and illegal,” the citizenship renouncement class action lawsuit says. “The U.S. government has been wrongfully profiting from charging this exorbitant fee and has been unjustly enriched.”
The United States reportedly began charging a citizenship renunciation fee in 2010. In 2014, the government reportedly raised the fee from $450 to $2,350, purportedly due to the dramatic number of people seeking to renounce their U.S. citizenship.
State Dept. announced it would lower fee in response to similar lawsuit, plaintiffs allege
In January, the State Department announced that it would lower the fee. The plaintiffs claim that this announcement was in response to a similar lawsuit that also alleged the citizenship renouncement fee was unlawful.
A D.C. federal court ruled against the plaintiffs in the earlier citizenship lawsuit after finding the State Department had provided a reasonable explanation for the fee increase to justify it under the Administrative Procedure Act.
The court noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has found there is a constitutional right for citizens to remain citizens, but there is no case law supporting a constitutional right to voluntarily renounce citizenship.
The plaintiffs filed the citizenship class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and a proposed class of others who were required to pay $2,350 to voluntarily renounce their U.S. citizenship.
They believe the class members are entitled to a $1,900 reimbursement.
Earlier this year, Meta was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it hires certain visa holders because the company can pay them less than U.S. citizens.
What do you think about this citizenship renouncement class action lawsuit? Join the discussion in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by L. Marc Zell and Noam Schreiber of Zell & Associates International.
The citizenship renouncement class action lawsuit is Esther Jenke, et al. v. United States of America, Case No.1:23-cv-02950, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
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