A record number of Americans have applied for British citizenship throughout the first few months of Donald Trump’s presidency. According to U.K. government data published Thursday, the first three months of 2025 saw over 1,930 U.S. citizens apply for U.K. citizenship—the highest rate since records began, according to the Financial Times. “People are leaving because of fear, frustration, and financial security. Beyond that is a deeper fear about personal safety,” Ono Okeregha, director at the Immigration Advice Service law firm, told the FT. Data from the U.K. Home Office also showed a sharp rise in the number of Americans applying for student visas in Britain—a 9.6 percent rise in the first quarter of 2025 compared with the same period last year—amid the Trump administration’s unprecedented attacks on American colleges. Another immigration lawyer told the FT that the rise in British citizenship applications reflects the wave of Americans who fled the U.S. for the U.K. during Trump’s first term, who have now lived in Britain long enough to begin applying for the legal right to live there permanently.
Read it at The Financial Times
