Ex-Americans are suing America to get back some of the money they paid to renounce their citizenship

• Former Americans filed a class action lawsuit to recover fees they paid when renouncing their citizenship.
• The State Department announced that the fee would be reduced from $2,350 to $450.

A group of former Americans filed a class-action lawsuit against the United States to recover $1,900 paid through the process of renouncing their citizenship, arguing that the fee is too costly.

The lawsuit comes after the State Department announced that the renunciation fee for people looking to no longer be American — which has cost $2,350 since 2014 — will now be a relative bargain at $450.

Basically, plaintiffs are asking to recover the difference.

"Since 2014, the US government has been wrongfully profiting from charging this exorbitant fee and has been unjustly enriched at the expense of the Plaintiffs and those similarly situated," the , obtained by Insider, reads.

The plaintiffs describe the fees as "arbitrary, capricious and illegal" because the money is used to " fund governmental functions completely unrelated to renunciation services." They also point out that the process to renounce US citizenship has been free for most of the country's history.

The complaint also argues that the State Department's proposal to reduce the fee to $450 is "a direct and proximate result" of a similar lawsuit brought in 2020 by 20 different ex-citizens who also argued that the $2,350 is too costly.

The State Department increased its renunciation fee to $2,350 in 2014, arguing it was more costly to process the applications.

As a result of the 2020 lawsuit, however, the State Department revisited the fee.

In its new proposal, the agency said that processing requests for a Certificate of Loss of Nationality is still "extremely costly," but believed that the change would "alleviate at least the cost burden" for outside nationals looking to renounce their citizenship.

Two plaintiffs who spoke with The New York Times said they decided to renounce their citizenship because of the strict financial reporting requirements that come with being a US citizen abroad.

Nina Nelson, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, told the Times that renouncing her US citizenship was "painful" but did so because she felt she experienced "permanent stress."

Esther Jenke also told the Times that finances played a role in her decision to renounce her citizenship.

"My husband and I bought a house. If we sell the house, even though it is our primary residence, because from a US perspective it's foreign property, we would have to pay capital gains tax on it," Jenke told the Times.

The State Department and attorneys for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider sent outside of regular business hours.