Not being American is becoming more expensive for some

Starting July 13, 2010, the U.S. Embassies and Consulates will be increasing their rates.

The fees related to naturalization starting this month will be as follows:

NEW CONSULAR FEES EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 12, 2014
CURRENT FEENEW FEE
Passport Fees
Renunciation of U.S. Citizenship$450$  2,350.00
File Search and Verification of U.S. Citizenship$  60.00$  150.00
Overseas Citizens Services
Disposition/Shipment of Remains of a non-U.S. Citizen$265.00 + expenses$200.00 + expenses
Documentary Services
Notarials, Certifications of True Copies, Authentications, provision of Department of State records$ 30.00 (first),
$ 20.00 (addt'l)		$ 50.00

Why are some fees going up and some going down? According to the U.S. government:
The 27 adjusted fees are based on a Cost of Service Study completed by the Bureau of Consular Affairs in June 2009.  The study, which was the most detailed and exhaustive ever conducted by the Department of State, established the true cost of providing these consular services, which by law must be recovered through collection of fees.
Because so relatively few Americans renounce their citizenship, the processing cost is high. It's unlikely that most consular officers in Japan have ever processed a real citizenship renunciation.

An important note: Americans, when they naturalize to Japanese citizenship, do not "renounce" their U.S. citizenship. They "relinquish" it. Relinquishing your U.S. citizenship is still free.
One piece of paperwork you need for Japanese naturalization is a 国籍証明書 {kokuseki shōmeisho} (proof of citizenship) for the U.S.A. No, your passport does not count — even though you'll have to supply copies of your passports anyway for other reasons.

To get this proof of citizenship, you need to go to the Embassy or Consulate, show your passport, and pay $30. They'll send you back a single page, in the mail, on U.S. State Department letterhead with your name, current date, birth place, birth date, citizenship, printed on it, along with a consul officer's signature and stamp on it.

At the end of this month, though, that single piece of paper will cost $50, not $30. ☹

If for some reason you are in Japan and don't have a U.S. passport (a passport is not required to naturalize) or birth certificate, you'll now need to pay $150 in addition to the $30 so the Embassy/Consulate can figure out if you're actually American.

The two most shocking jumps in price, though, are the ones services that are no longer free:
  • adding pages to one's passport (I travel a lot, and all my U.S. passports have been "extended" this way) → $82
  • renouncing your citizenship → $2,350
Hopefully, when you renounce, you will not be hit with the Expatriation Tax (aka "Exit Tax").

The only thing that will become cheaper is for the case of dying in Japan as a Japanese, and wanting your remains to be brought back to the U.S. Here's to death!

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