Data released by the UK Home Office on Thursday revealed that a record number of Americans applied for British citizenship between January and March of this year, the first reporting period coinciding with the commencement of Donald Trump’s second presidential term.
The figures show that 1,931 applications were submitted by American citizens during this three-month period, marking the highest number since record-keeping began in 2004 and representing a 12% increase compared to the previous quarter. The data also indicated a continued upward trend from the October-December period, which aligned with Trump’s re-election.
Official data for the full year of 2024, the latest period available, also shows a record high in successful applications from US citizens seeking permanent settlement in the United Kingdom, a status that confers the right to live, work, and study indefinitely and can be a pathway to citizenship. More than 5,500 Americans were granted settled status in 2024, a 20% increase from the 2023 figure.
A previous notable spike in American applications for British citizenship occurred in 2020 during Trump’s first presidential term and the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Additional data from Bambridge Accountants, a firm specializing in cross-border taxation with offices in New York and London, indicated that over 5,800 Americans renounced their citizenship in the first six months of 2020, nearly triple the total number from the entire year of 2019.
Alistair Bambridge, a partner at the firm, told CNN in August 2020 that the individuals renouncing their citizenship were primarily those who had already left the US and had reached a point of dissatisfaction. He noted that unhappiness with the political climate in the United States and the handling of the pandemic were common grievances, with tax implications also frequently cited as a contributing factor.
While the data suggests a growing interest among Americans in establishing lives in the UK and other parts of Europe, recent policy changes may present increasing hurdles. Last week, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the government intends to implement stricter requirements for legal migrants and extend the waiting period for newcomers seeking citizenship. Furthermore, earlier this week, Italy enacted legislation that removes the possibility of acquiring citizenship through great-grandparents, following previous tightening of visa regulations for non-European Union citizens.
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