Locked Into US Citizenship: Do Americans Have The Right To Renounce? Should Renunciations Take Place Through Video Conferencing?

<p>November 29, 2020 - Participants Include:</p> <p> </p> <p>John Richardson - <a href='http://www.twitter.com/expatriationlaw'>@Expatriationlaw</a></p> <p> </p> <p>Diane Gelon - London, UK based New York lawyer</p> <p> </p> <p>One the hand one, many Americans abroad are desparate to pay the $2350 USD fee to renounce US citizenship. On the other hand, the US State Department has stopped providing appoints to renounce.</p> <p>Do US citizens have the right to renounce?</p> <p>The 1868 Expatriation Act suggests that they have a statutory right to renounce.</p> <p><a href='https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1481'>Right of Expatriation</a></p> <p>R.S. § 1999 provided that: “Whereas the right of expatriation is a natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and whereas in the recognition of this principle this Government has freely received emigrants from all nations, and invested them with the rights of citizenship; and whereas it is claimed that such American citizens, with their descendants, are subjects of <a href='https://www.law.cornell.edu/definitions/uscode.php?width=840&height=800&iframe=true&def_id=8-USC-1597347259-1201680035&term_occur=999&term_src='>foreign states</a>, owing allegiance to the governments thereof; and whereas it is necessary to the maintenance of public peace that this claim of foreign allegiance should be promptly and finally disavowed: Therefore any declaration, instruction, opinion, order, or decision of any officer of the<a href='https://www.law.cornell.edu/definitions/uscode.php?width=840&height=800&iframe=true&def_id=8-USC-2032517217-1201680101&term_occur=999&term_src='> United States </a>which denies, restricts, impairs, or questions the right of expatriation, is declared inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the Republic.”</p> <p>The 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision in<a href='https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/387/253'> Afroyim</a> suggests they have a con