Scroll through any recent edition of the US‑Treasury’s Quarterly Publication of Individuals Who Have Chosen to Expatriate and a pattern jumps off the page: Chinese‑language surnames dominate line after line. Tax lawyer Andrew Mitchel, who tracks the lists, counted 344 published expatriations in the first quarter of 2024 alone, continuing a trend that spiked to an all‑time record of 6,705 names in pandemic‑hit 2020.While the Federal Register doesn’t record nationality, lawyers who comb the lists say the majority of recent renunciants have ethnic‑Chinese names.
How big is the exodus?
Precise head‑counts are hard to pin down, but several data points show the scale:
| Indicator | 2016 peak | 2020 pandemic spike | 2024 trajectory* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Names on IRS expatriate list | 5,411 | 6,705 | 3,000–4,000 (annualised) |
*First‑quarter figure annualised from Treasury data.
Tax advisers in Hong Kong and Singapore tell Fortune the pipeline is “busier than ever,” with billion‑yuan fortunes “de‑Americanising” via formal renunciation.
Why the rush to cut ties with Uncle Sam?
1. Global taxation and paperwork fatigue
The United States is one of only two countries that taxes citizens on worldwide income, no matter where they live. FATCA reporting means Chinese billionaires with a single Delaware‑registered investment fund must file in two tax systems—a compliance headache that costs six figures a year in professional fees, according to Beijing‑based advisers.
2. Renunciation just got cheaper
Until recently, giving up a US passport cost US $2,350 in State‑Department processing fees. In March 2024 Washington proposed slashing that to US $450 after a class‑action lawsuit argued the old charge was punitive. Bloomberg reports that private‑client law firms saw inquiries jump 30 per cent the week the rule was published.
3. Beijing’s crackdown on dual nationality
China forbids dual citizenship. In practice authorities long looked the other way, but since 2023 provincial police have stepped up spot‑checks, forcing returnees with US passports to choose. The most‑high‑profile example came on 19 April 2025, when Yin Zhiyao—the 81‑year‑old founder of semiconductor giant Advanced Micro‑Fabrication Equipment Inc.—quietly disclosed in his annual report that he had “recovered Chinese nationality,” a legal euphemism for surrendering his US passport.
4. Geopolitical risk—and stigma
Owning a US passport increasingly looks like a liability to elites whose businesses rely on mainland government contracts. Washington’s escalating export‑control regime has already black‑listed 276 Chinese entities and individuals, the Centre for a New American Security calculates.CNAS At the same time, 36 US states have passed or are debating laws restricting Chinese citizens from buying land near “strategic infrastructure,” a signal many wealthy families read as hostility.Politico
5. Better Plan Bs elsewhere
China will lose a record 15,200 millionaires in 2024, forecasts Henley & Partners’ Private Wealth Migration Report, more than any country on earth. Most are decamping to tax‑lite hubs—Dubai, Singapore, London—without the baggage of US citizenship.
A family‑office insider’s view
David Lesperance, a Toronto‑based attorney who structures exits for Asia’s super‑rich, tells Fortune that “well over half” of his pipeline last year were mainland Chinese who had obtained US citizenship through EB‑5 investment visas a decade ago. Their goal now: move the family office to Singapore, park real‑estate money in Dubai, and hand back blue passports before US estate‑tax rules tighten in 2026.
What renouncing actually involves
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Pre‑clear exit tax – Anyone worth more than US $2 million or with average annual US tax bills above US $201,000 must mark all assets to market the day before expatriation and pay up to 23.8 % in “exit tax.”
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Consular oath – Applicants appear at a US embassy, swear an oath of renunciation, and file Form 8854 within 15 days.
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Certificate of Loss of Nationality (CLN) – The decisive document. Without it, banks in Hong Kong or Shanghai will still flag the client as a “US person” under FATCA.
Life after the blue book
Most renunciants fall back on a Tier‑1 passport—Singapore, St Kitts & Nevis, Portugal’s D7 visa—or simply revert to Chinese nationality like Yin Zhiyao. The Henley report shows the UAE is the biggest beneficiary, expecting 6,700 millionaire arrivals this year. Singapore’s Monetary Authority, meanwhile, approved a record 1,400 family‑office licences in 2024, half linked to mainland Chinese capital, according to private‑bank estimates. (MAS does not publish nationality data.)
Looking ahead
The trend shows no sign of slowing. Birth‑tourism parents now worry the US may curtail constitutional birthright citizenship—another push factor for families who once coveted a “Plan B” passport for their children. If geopolitical tensions worsen, advisers expect even more Chinese billionaires to calculate that the costs of a US passport—tax, compliance, political optics—outweigh its dwindling benefits.
