(11) Civics

 Former Americans Who Gave Up Their Citizenship Want Their Money Back

Former US citizens who live abroad have filed a class-action lawsuit against the US State Department, claiming the $2,350 fee to relinquish their nationality was exorbitant. Nina Nelson, who renounced her US citizenship to the US in Paris last fall, called the decision "painful" and unhappy. The US is one of the few countries that levy taxes based on citizenship rather than geography, making it difficult for Americans living abroad to open a bank account. The process to obtain a certificate of loss of nationality, which included taking an oath of renunciation after several months on a waiting list, cost her $2,350. The US State Department announced a proposal to return the fee to $450, but Nelson and three other plaintiffs, including citizens of Germany and the Netherlands, filed a class-action lawsuit against the State Department to get the difference of $1,900 refunded. The lawsuit calls the higher fee "arbitrary, capricious, and illegal" because it was used to fund governmental functions unrelated to renunciation services.

Former Americans filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, alleging that a renunciation fee of $2,350 was exorbitant and unlawful.Credit...Jenny Kane/Associated Press