In a press release dated March 3, 2015, the Withers Law Firm announced that it was successful in persuading the U.S. Department of State (DOS) to abandon its long-standing position of treating a U.S. citizen who is attempting to renounce his citizenship as being ineligible for a visa to visit the U.S. for business or for pleasure.

As a way of background information, while a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (CLN) letter is pending, a person attempting to renounce his citizenship remains a U.S. citizen and is thus ineligible for a visa to visit the U.S. either for business or for pleasure (U.S. citizens are not eligible for visas).

Without a U.S. passport and deprived of the opportunity to obtain a U.S. visa, Withers argued that such individuals are deprived of their constitutional right to travel to the United States. Making matters worse, the practice of retaining/returning the passport and issuing/denying a visa varies from Embassy to Embassy making the process as arbitrary and capricious as predicting the price of a barrel of crude oil. With no clear guidance and a complete lack of consistent rules, it is no wonder why so many renunciants are on the brink of insanity.

Withers strenuously argued that either “the U.S. passport be returned to a renunciant or a temporary visa be issued.” In the wake of hearing this, DOS abruptly changed it policy.

After intensive lobbying efforts by Withers, DOS amended its regulations in February 2015. As a result, “Consular Officers at U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the world are now instructed to return U.S. passports to any recent U.S. citizen renunciant with travel plans to America.”