citizenship for adults. The total number of renunciants from 2001 to 2011 was roughly 10,900. Of these, roughly half were Chinese Singaporeans (who comprise about three-quarters of the population), while the rest were of other ethnicities such as Malay or Indians (who comprise about one-quarter of the population). United States Overview Although renunciation may be the most commonly used term when referring to loss of US nationality, renunciation is only one of the seven expatriating acts that may be performed voluntarily and with the intent to relinquish US nationality stated in section 349 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (). People who relinquish U.S. citizenship are called "relinquishers", while those who specifically renounce U.S. citizenship are called "renunciants". United States law requires that prospective renunciants appear in person before a consular officer at a US embassy or consulate outside the United States and sign an oath or affirmation that the individual intends to renounce US citizenship. Exceptions to this rule are permitted in times of war and under special circumstances. During the expatriation procedure, the individual must complete several documents and demonstrate in an interview with a consular officer that the renunciation is voluntary and intentional. Depending on the embassy or consulate, the individual is often required to appear in person two times and conduct two separate interviews with consular officers over the course of several months. There were 235 renunciants in 2008, between 731 and 743 in 2009, and about 1485 in 2010; In 2011, there were 1781 renunciants. A total of 2,999 Americans renounced their citizenship in 2012–2013; in 2014, 3415 have renounced their USA citizenship or long term residency. The State Department estimates 5986 renunciants and 559 relinquishers during FY2015. Since 1998, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has also maintained its own list of people who have renounced citizenship under . This is one of the categories of people who are prohibited from purchasing firearms under the Gun Control Act of 1968, and whose names must be entered in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993. The names are not made public, but each month the FBI issues a report on the number of entries added in each category. NICS covers a different population than the Federal Register expatriate list: the former includes only those who renounce US citizenship, while the latter should include those