The Times UK reports applications for British citizenship by U.S. residents reached a record of 9,300 last year — more than double the figure for 2022 when President Biden was in the White House.
“There has been a 63 percent rise in the number of Americans renting properties in the country since Trump was re-elected in November 2024, from 265 to 431,” reports property technology firm Goodlord. “The comparable figure for the whole of Britain was 32 per cent, from 3,733 to 4,939. London recorded a rise of 29 per cent, from 1,857 to 2,394; Manchester and the rest of north-west England had the second largest increase, of 60 per cent, from 87 to 139.”
Part of the driving force — outside the current occupant of the White House — are updates to UK nationality laws in 2022 that corrected historical gender discrimination, allowing Americans born before 1988 to claim British citizenship through a UK-born mother or grandmother. Prior to that, wistful Americans had only been able to claim through a father or grandfather.
Worse for the U.S., it appears the brain drain is aiming for America’s youngest, smartest and finest.
“Goodlord analyzed more than 300,000 tenancy agreements signed in the past two years and compared them to 2023 and 2024, when the Democrats were in power. It found the average age of U.S. renters moving to Scotland is 27, pointing towards young professionals being the keenest to move there. Edinburgh and Glasgow were the most popular destinations,” reports the Times.
“These figures give further weight to claims that volatility in U.S. politics is driving many Americans to seek a new home in the U.K.,” said William Reeve, Goodlord’s chief executive officer.
The Times spoke to Beth Knight, an artist and stand-up comedian from Oklahoma, who quickly moved to the U.K. after President Donald Trump was elected.
“After being raised in a conservative Christian culture, where gun and car ownership are commonplace, Knight … said she appreciates Scotland’s more egalitarian ethos, irreverent sense of humor and easy access to public transport.”
“I love that I don’t have to own a car and can take trains everywhere,” Knight told the Times. “I really appreciate the NHS, the social security safety net and the way that Scotland takes care of people. There are more rights for women here than there are in America currently. The weather is quite mild all year round, plus you guys are really funny and not very religious.”
Christine Jardine, the Liberal Democrat party Parliament member for Edinburgh West, said she is urging the UK government to offer fast-track visas to American workers to meet the growing demand.
“I have been inundated with messages from those in America who no longer wished to live under a Trump presidency,” said Jardine. “They wanted to feel safe and to contribute to a country much more in line with their values than the country they were born into. Why not offer sanctuary to those who want to flee, if they can make our country a better, more prosperous place for our people in the process?”
The UK isn’t the only nation seeing a sharp rise in American emigration. Canada is also being swamped with new U.S. applicants, and academics have been bolting from the country as a Trump administration that’s hostile to educators and universities squats into the Oval Office.
Trump’s damage to the U.S. economy is also a likely driving force as the nation’s job outlook falters.
