Data released by the UK Home Office last week has revealed an unprecedented number of US citizens applied for British citizenship since Trump’s second administration took office.
In the 12 months leading up to March, 6,618 US nationals applied for citizenship in the UK; over 1,900 of them did so between January and March 2025. The figure is the highest ever recorded since tracking began in 2004.
Settlement applications have also reached the highest recorded figure of 5,557 in 2024.
The report by the Office for National Statistics shows net migration in the UK has almost halved in 2024 (431,000) in comparison to 2023 (860,000), meaning the US spike is not part of a larger upward tendency.
Surge of Inquiries in US
According to American immigration lawyers, many Americans began to consider leaving their country last year.
The New York Times spoke with Muhunthan Paramesvaran, an immigration lawyer at Wilsons Solicitors in London.
He observed inquiries beginning to rise “in the immediate aftermath of the election” due to “various pronouncements that were made.”
“People who were already here may have been thinking, ‘I want the option of dual citizenship in the event that I don’t want to go back to the U.S.’”
Zeena Luchowa, a partner at Laura Devine Immigration, a law firm that specialises in American migration to Britain, went so far as to identify the “political landscape” in America as a cause to expect a continued rise.
“We’ve seen increases in inquiries and applications not just for U.S. nationals, but for U.S. residents of other nationalities who are currently in the U.S. but looking at plans to settle in the U.K.,” she added. “The queries we’re seeing are not necessarily about British citizenship — it’s more about seeking to relocate.”
Is this due to a Trump-inflicted political climate?
Many analysts have attributed the increase to the polarisation of American society, but, as Marley Morris, the associate director for migration at the London-based Institute for Public Policy Research, suggested:
multiple factors are contributing to the rise in settlement applications around the world, with political reasons being just one of them.
Mr. Paramesvaran also expects numbers to rise further after Keir Starmer’s announcements, adding, “It’s a case of people wanting to take advantage of the rules and guidance as they exist today.”
