Record number of Americans apply for UK citizenship as Trump begins second term

A record number of Americans applied for British citizenship in the first quarter of 2025, coinciding with the beginning of Donald Trump as an American president, according to new data from the UK Ministry of Interior.

Between January and March, 1931 American citizens submitted requests for citizenship in the United Kingdom, representing the highest quarterly annual since the start of records in 2004 and 12 % in the previous quarter. The increase follows a similar rise during the last three months of 2024, which is in line with the re -election of Trump.

The figures indicate the increasing interest among Americans in establishing a long-term residence in Britain, where 5,500 American citizens were granted a stable position in 2024-increasing 20 % over the previous year. The stable situation gives the right to live, work and study in the UK indefinitely and can serve as a path to citizenship.

The last similar rise in American immigration to Yuk in 2020 came during the first period of Trump and at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when it paid discontent with the American political climate, general health response, and tax burdens across the border many Americans abroad.

That year also witnessed a record number of Americans abandoning their American nationality, as more than 5800 passports abandoned the first half of 2020 alone – approximately three times the number for 2019, according to the numbers collected by Bambridge Accountants, a company specialized in international tax.

“These are the people who have already left the United States and have just decided that they had enough of everything,” Alcestir Pambridge, a company partner, said in an interview with 2020.
“While political frustrations and epidemic related to the epidemic were major factors, the complexity of the American tax system of expatriates is often the final straw.”

While more Americans seem to look to life in the United Kingdom and Europe, citizenship paths have become limited. Prime Minister Kiir Starmer announced last week that the government will provide stricter requirements for legal immigrants, including longer waiting times before new arrivals can apply for citizenship.

Meanwhile, Italy has presented new legislation this week that removes the right to citizenship through grandparents, which led to the closure of a popular road for Americans with Italian origin. Italy has also tightened visa requirements for citizens other than the European Union in recent months, in line with a wider European trend of the most stringent immigration controls.

Despite the changing legal scene, Britain’s position as a culturally familiar, English -language destination with strong institutions and health care continues to make it an attractive option for American expatriates looking for greater stability or permanent step abroad.

Also, Trump’s second term is unfold, immigration and citizenship professionals will closely monitor to see if this early rise in requests represents the direction of continuous migration-or a short-term reaction to political uncertainty at home.