Trump effect? Americans applying for British citizenship break 2004 record
A record number of Americans applied for British citizenship in the first quarter of 2025, surpassing all previous figures since records began in 2004, according to data released by the UK Home Office.
Between January and March, 1,931 U.S. citizens submitted applications — a 12% increase from the previous quarter and the highest ever recorded in a single quarter. This surge follows a similar spike during the final months of 2024, coinciding with
Donald Trump
's re-election.
In total, 6,618 Americans applied for British citizenship in the 12 months leading to March 2025 — the most in a single year since records began.
Play Video
Pause
Skip Backward
Skip Forward
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
0:00
Loaded
:
0%
0:00
Stream Type
LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
1x
Playback Rate
Chapters
Chapters
Descriptions
descriptions off
, selected
Captions
captions settings
, opens captions settings dialog
captions off
, selected
Audio Track
Picture-in-Picture
Fullscreen
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text
Color
White
Black
Red
Green
Blue
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan
Opacity
Opaque
Semi-Transparent
Text Background
Color
Black
White
Red
Green
Blue
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan
Opacity
Opaque
Semi-Transparent
Transparent
Caption Area Background
Color
Black
White
Red
Green
Blue
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan
Opacity
Transparent
Semi-Transparent
Opaque
Font Size
50%
75%
100%
125%
150%
175%
200%
300%
400%
Text Edge Style
None
Raised
Depressed
Uniform
Drop shadow
Font Family
Proportional Sans-Serif
Monospace Sans-Serif
Proportional Serif
Monospace Serif
Casual
Script
Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values
Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Harry Potter Actress Stuns Fans With Grown-up Pics
Reportingly
Undo
The upward trend also extended to permanent settlement. In 2024, more than 5,500 Americans were granted settled status in the UK, giving them the right to live, work, and study in the country indefinitely — a 20% increase from the previous year and another record high.
Immigration experts link the growing interest to concerns over U.S. political stability.
Live Events
'There's definitely been an uptick in inquiries from U.S. nationals,' Muhunthan Paramesvaran, senior immigration lawyer at Wilsons Solicitors in London, told the New York Times. 'People who were already here may be thinking, 'I want the option of dual citizenship in case I don't want to go back to the U.S.''
Others see the trend as part of a broader shift. Zeena Luchowa, a partner at Laura Devine Immigration, noted increased inquiries not just from American citizens but also U.S. residents of other nationalities. 'The queries we're seeing are less about citizenship and more about long-term relocation,' she said, citing the evolving political landscape in the U.S. as a key factor.
The last major spike in American applications came in 2020, during Trump's first term and the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, over 5,800 Americans renounced their U.S. citizenship in just six months — nearly triple the total for all of 2019, according to Bambridge Accountants, a firm specializing in cross-border taxation.
While interest in British and European relocation is growing, immigration policies are tightening. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently announced plans to raise the bar for legal migration and lengthen the wait for citizenship eligibility. Meanwhile, Italy has eliminated the citizenship route through great-grandparents and introduced stricter visa rules for non-EU citizens.
Despite these changes, the surge in American applications reflects a broader desire for stability, mobility, and new beginnings abroad.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scroll.in
29 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
US rejects India's challenge to aluminium, steel tariffs at WTO
The United States has rejected India's notice to the World Trade Organization proposing retaliatory tariffs after Washington increased the import duties on aluminium and steel to 25%, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday. The US argued that it had imposed the tariffs on the grounds of national security and claimed there were procedural errors in India's case. In a note sent to the World Trade Organization on May 23, the US stated that India had wrongly treated the tariffs on aluminium and steel as safeguard measures, the newspaper reported. Washington said that it had imposed the levies under section 232 of the US law, which allows such measures if imports are considered a threat to national security. In response to the challenge made by India, the US told the World Trade Organization that it 'will not discuss the section 232 tariffs under the Agreement on Safeguards as we do not view the tariffs as a safeguard measure', reported The Indian Express. The US also claimed that India had committed procedural errors by not acknowledging Washington's offer to discuss the tariffs in a communication dated April 16. 'Accordingly, India has not complied with the obligations under the Agreement on Safeguards, the agreement that it mistakenly contends applies to the tariffs in question,' the newspaper quoted the US as having said. On May 9, India notified the World Trade Organization that it may impose retaliatory tariffs on the US after Washington increased the import duties on aluminium and steel to 25%. The Donald Trump administration had first imposed higher tariffs on aluminium and steel imports in 2018. This was modified in February to impose duties of 25% on imports of the two metals. The measures took effect in March. Washington also removed country-specific and product-specific exemptions that several countries had managed to negotiate. On Friday, US President Donald Trump announced that his administration will double the tariffs on steel to 50%. While Washington has claimed that the increased tariffs had been taken in the interest of national security and were not safeguard measures, New Delhi argued that the actions were safeguard measures. 'The measures have not been notified by the United States to the WTO, but are, in essence, safeguard measures,' The Hindu had quoted India as having communicated to the international organisation in May. 'India maintains that the measures taken by the United States are not consistent with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 and the Agreement on Safeguards.' India argued that it had the right to impose retaliatory tariffs as the US had not held consultations, as are mandatory under the Agreement on Safeguards. India's levies were to take effect a month from the date it notified the World Trade Organization. New Delhi said that the measures it was proposing would be in the form of suspending concessions on select products from the US. This effectively meant an increase in tariffs on the products. The Indian reciprocal tariffs could be imposed on imports worth $7.6 billion from the United States, which would lead to a duty collection of $1.9 billion, The Hindu had quoted the communication as saying.
Time of India
33 minutes ago
- Time of India
Will we get to see a Tharoor vs Bhutto? India and Pakistan delegations to be in US same day
NEW DELHI: The all-party delegation, led by , is scheduled to be in Washington, DC, on Wednesday—coinciding, perhaps not so coincidentally, with the visit of a Pakistani delegation headed by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now While the Congress MP-led delegation is confident about getting India's message across, a Tharoor vs Bhutto might be on the cards. Talking about this Tharoor said that the presence of both the delegations would lead to an "increase in interest" as the States, whose president has repeatedly claimed credit for India-Pakistan truce, would get to hear two diametrically opposite views on the same day. "In Washington, we'll have the interesting phenomenon of the Pakistani delegation in America, and almost exactly the same days... Tomorrow almost they will be in Washington, while we are in Washington on the same date. So there's going to be perhaps an increase in interest because there are two duelling delegations in the same city," Tharoor told ANI on Tuesday. He further assured that even though India's side might not be a central agenda for the American media, the delegation would get the "message across very, very easily." "It's a challenging environment. America is a very crowded media space, the world's news generator. Therefore, our story may not be at the top of their minds. But if we can get the attention of those who care about South Asia, those who care about India, those who care about terrorism, we can get our message across very, very easily," he said. Tharoor noted that Pakistan's decision to send its own delegation is no coincidence, but unlike India's broader outreach, they are focusing only on countries they consider strategically important. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "It's no accident that the Pakistanis have also sent a delegation abroad, but they're not going to as many countries as the Indian delegations are. They're focusing on what they consider a few key capitals, namely, Washington, Brussels. London. That seems to be the thrust of the Pakistani effort. We have gone to all those capitals and more," he said. Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairman on May 17, revealed that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had entrusted him with leading a delegation to advocate the country's position amid recent escalations with India. The delegations by both the nations are meant to present their respective sides after they launched military operations against each other post Pahalgam terror attack.
India Today
34 minutes ago
- India Today
No one needed to persuade us: Shashi Tharoor shuts down Trump's India-Pak claim
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is leading an all-party Operation Sindoor delegation abroad, denied any involvement of a third party in the ceasefire understanding reached between India and Pakistan. Tharoor, who is currently in Brazil, made the remarks ahead of his delegation's visit to the United said India did not need any persuasion for a ceasefire as the country never wanted have enormous respect for the American presidency, and we will speak with that respect in mind. But broadly speaking, our understanding is a bit different... No one needed to persuade us to stop. We had already said to stop," he said. Tharoor said the Pakistani side must have needed some persuasion."If there was any persuasion by the American president or his senior officials, it would have been persuasion of the Pakistanis. They would have had to be persuaded. We don't need to be persuaded because we don't want war. We want to focus on development. That's the basic message," he Tharoor said that India never wanted the conflict to escalate but had to react because Pakistan says, ".... We had consistently said from the very beginning on May 7th that we are not interested in prolonging the conflict. This is not the opening salvo in some sort of war. All it is is retribution against the terrorists, period. If Pakistan had not reacted, we would not have reacted..."advertisementTharoor's remarks came in response to Donald Trump's repeated claims that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after four days of missile and drone strikes. Trump was also the first one to announce the news to the world and later Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri held confirmed the same during a press India has categorically denied claims of mediation and said the understanding was reached after Pakistan's DGMO called his Indian counterpart. Both countries agreed to ceasefire on May 10 after Pakistan escalated following India's Operation Central government formed seven teams of leaders across parties to brief countries on India's Operation Sindoor and Pakistan's support for terrorism. Following the suite, Islamabad also planned the same move and handed the responsibility to Bilawal the delegations will be in the US at the same time. Commenting on Pakistan's move, Tharoor called it an "interesting phenomenon". "In Washington, we'll have the interesting phenomenon of the Pakistani delegation in America, and almost exactly the same days... Tomorrow almost they will be in Washington, while we are in Washington on the same date. So there's going to be perhaps an increase in interest because there are two duelling delegations in the same city," Tharoor said.
