Citizenship renunciation and relinquishment

Renouncing ends your US citizenship-based worldwide taxation going forward from your expatriation date, but it doesn't erase any past filing obligations — you're still required to file a final tax return covering the year of expatriation and to certify five years of prior tax compliance on Form 8854. If you weren't already caught up on past US filings, renouncing doesn't fix that retroactively; it can actually make your situation worse by triggering "covered expatriate" status, which carries its own tax consequences. TFX's guide to renouncing US citizenship covers this final-filing requirement.

Renunciation requires an in-person appointment at a US embassy or consulate abroad, where you take a formal oath of renunciation before a consular officer — you can't renounce by mail or from within the US, and afterward you'll receive a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (CLN) once the State Department approves it. Before that appointment, most people also prepare their final tax filings and gather supporting documents, since the renunciation and the tax side of expatriation are handled by different agencies but need to line up. TFX's guide to renouncing US citizenship walks through each stage of the process.

Most people who renounce owe no special exit tax at all — it only applies to "covered expatriates," meaning your worldwide net worth is $2 million or more, your average annual US tax liability over the past five years exceeds $211,000 (2026), or you can't certify five years of tax compliance on Form 8854. If you are a covered expatriate, the IRS treats your worldwide assets as if sold the day before expatriation, taxing the net gain above a $910,000 (2026) exclusion, with deferred compensation, specified tax-deferred accounts, and certain trusts handled under separate rules rather than this default deemed-sale treatment. TFX's US exit tax guide covers the full covered-expatriate analysis.

The State Department's processing fee is $450, effective March 14, 2026 — an 80% cut from the previous $2,350 fee that had been in place since 2015. That fee only covers the administrative cost of the Certificate of Loss of Nationality itself; it doesn't include tax preparation, asset valuation, or the exit tax a covered expatriate might separately owe, which can be a far larger cost than the filing fee. TFX's guide to renouncing US citizenship breaks down the full cost picture beyond the government fee.

Renouncing doesn't automatically end your Social Security benefits — eligibility is based on work credits you've already earned, not on citizenship — but your payments may become subject to noncitizen withholding rules depending on your country of residence, the type of benefit, and any applicable tax treaty. It's worth proactively notifying the Social Security Administration of your citizenship change so your withholding and payment method get updated correctly rather than being flagged later. TFX's guide to renouncing US citizenship covers how this benefit continuation works.

Yes — after renouncing, you enter the US as a foreign national under your non-US passport, using the Visa Waiver Program and ESTA if your new citizenship qualifies, or a visitor visa if it doesn't; your entry route depends entirely on your remaining passport, not on your former US citizenship. There's a rarely enforced law (the Reed Amendment) that in theory could bar entry to someone found to have renounced specifically to avoid US taxes, but in practice it has essentially never been applied, and having covered-expatriate status alone doesn't trigger it. TFX's guide to renouncing US citizenship covers what to expect when re-entering as a former citizen.

Renunciation is the forward-looking formal oath you take today before a consular officer, while relinquishment covers situations where you already performed an expatriating act in the past — like naturalizing in another country — with the intent at that time to give up your US citizenship. The practical difference is about proof: renunciation establishes your intent through the current oath itself, while a relinquishment claim requires documenting that your intent to abandon US citizenship existed back when the earlier act happened, which can sometimes support an earlier effective expatriation date. TFX's guide to renouncing US citizenship explains both paths side by side.

Once a relinquishment claim is documented and approved, it results in the same Certificate of Loss of Nationality and the same tax consequences as a formal renunciation — the same $450 processing fee, the same Form 8854 filing requirement, and the same exit-tax analysis if you're a covered expatriate. The main practical difference is the paperwork: you'll typically need to show evidence of the earlier expatriating act and your intent at that time, which can affect your official expatriation date and, in turn, which tax years fall under your final filing obligations. TFX's guide to renouncing US citizenship covers how a relinquishment claim gets processed.

Possibly, in three ways: you'll owe tax on your final dual-status return covering the year you expatriate, you may owe a one-time exit tax if you're a covered expatriate, and any ongoing US-source income — like a US rental property or US-source dividends — remains taxable to you indefinitely as a nonresident alien, even long after you've renounced. What ends is your citizenship-based worldwide tax obligation going forward; what doesn't end is US tax on income the US still considers US-source, or on anything left unresolved from before you expatriated. TFX's US exit tax guide covers what continues to be taxable after expatriation.

There's no fixed timeline — the process runs through three separate stages, each with its own wait: getting a consular appointment (which can take anywhere from a few weeks to well over a year depending on the embassy), completing the in-person oath itself (typically done in a single visit), and waiting for the State Department to formally approve your Certificate of Loss of Nationality (often weeks to several months afterward). Appointment availability varies enormously by post, so the biggest variable in your total timeline is usually just getting on the calendar at your specific embassy or consulate. TFX's guide to renouncing US citizenship covers what to expect at each stage.

Not to complete the renunciation act itself — the State Department doesn't check your IRS compliance before administering the oath — but it's effectively required if you want to avoid the worst tax consequences, since failing to certify five years of federal tax compliance on Form 8854 automatically makes you a "covered expatriate," regardless of your net worth or income. That distinction matters: you can legally renounce your citizenship while behind on US taxes, but doing so without catching up first can trigger exit tax exposure you could have avoided by getting compliant beforehand. TFX's US exit tax guide covers the five-year compliance certification requirement.