> costs $1500 and about 6 months to process the paperwork that lets her stay

Really not cool. Probably justify it by saying it takes a lot of time to process paperwork (that they created the requirement for in the first place...)

Did you know that it also now costs $2350 for someone to renounce their US citizenship?

It also takes an undefined amount of time (typically 12+ months) and they publish your name online on a State Department shame list of ex-Americans.

A decade ago, it was free to renounce your US citizenship. Around 2009 they started charging $450, and then suddenly raised the fee to $2350 in 2014.