The U.S. State Department will cut the fee for renouncing American citizenship to $450 from $2,350, a move that ends a yearslong legal battle over the cost of relinquishing citizenship. The reduction, effective April 13, returns the fee to its 2010 level and represents an 80 percent reduction from the current price.

The change comes after advocacy groups like the Paris-based Association of Accidental Americans challenged the $2,350 fee as prohibitive. The State Department acknowledged in its Federal Register notice that many Americans living abroad found the cost burdensome, particularly given the complex tax obligations that come with U.S. citizenship. Americans abroad must file U.S. tax returns regardless of where they live.

For the estimated 9 million Americans living abroad, the high fee had made renouncing citizenship difficult. The State Department had increased the fee in 2015 to cover processing costs amid rising demand, partly driven by foreign banking requirements. The agency now says it will absorb the processing costs rather than pass them to citizens seeking to renounce their nationality.