Since Donald Trump’s re-election, a record number of Americans have relocated to the UK — and not just celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and Beyoncé — but what’s driving the exodus?
The answer erupted onto London’s streets last weekend.
Hundreds gathered outside the US Embassy in Nine Elms on Saturday, 18 October, to join the ‘No Kings’ protests, which took place across all 50 US states, and the crowd was overwhelmingly American.
Their message was clear — with placards labelled the 47th President a ‘tyrant’, a ‘fascist’, and a ‘dictator’ — they stood in solidarity with the millions who protested, in record numbers, across the pond.
In anticipation of Trump’s second presidency, Catalina Adamou-Tovar, 40, moved to London California in 2023, she said: “As a lesbian woman, I would now feel unsafe going back to America with my partner, I would never go back now.
“I’m very happy to be here in London — I am a Mexican American and I am terrified of how my race is being targeted back home.”
Adamou-Tovar is not alone. She is among thousands of Americans who have wanted to call the UK home in the last year.
According to Home Office data, more than 6,000 Americans applied to either become British citizens or to live and work in the country indefinitely in the year leading up to March 2025.
This is a 26% increase from the previous year and the highest figure since records began in 2004.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major US cities, and we’re delighted to welcome the record number of US citizens moving here.”
Zeena Luchowa, a partner at Laura Devine Immigration, said the firm has seen a clear rise in enquiries from those in America wanting to relocate to the UK.
She said, “Some of these clients have openly cited the political situation in America as a motivation to relocate.
“But settlement in the UK requires residence for five years, so this might not always be an immediate leave signal.”
Despite the lengthy residency requirements, the number of Americans who have relocated to the UK and Europe, has fueled a growing relocation industry more broadly.
Jana Sanchez, 61, and Bethany Quinn, 40, have created a business helping Americans relocate primarily to Europe in response to the current political landscape in the States.
Quinn founded Get the F*ck Out Tours in 2022, six years after deciding to leave the States on the night of President Trump’s first election in 2016.
Her decision was partly driven by concerns about personal safety after facing death threats for her own political activism and narrowly escaping a gun violence incident.
She told SW Londoner that client inquiries spike whenever Trump makes controversial announcements.
Quinn said: “We had a flurry of calls last week after Trump addressed military troops in Quantico.
“These were largely from veterans who now want to leave the country.”
Sanchez left Texas in January 2025, before Trump’s second inauguration, with her reaction being radically different from 2016, when she felt ’emboldened to fight back.’
This time, fear replaced determination.
After facing threats in the street for displaying liberal bumper stickers, she no longer felt safe in America.
She said: “This is not a lifestyle choice.”
“Our enquiries are now from people with varying budgets who feel they have no other choice but to leave and go wherever they can.
“We speak to a lot of mothers with neurodivergent, LGBT, or transgender children who they are now scared to raise in America.”
Neither she nor Bethany believe they could ever return to America full-time.
The concerns extend beyond individual relocations to entire professional sectors.
Elizabeth, 40, moved to the UK from Missouri to work in humanitarian aid.
She described a climate of mounting anxiety among American colleagues about online surveillance, phone searches at the border, and threats to job security.
Many humanitarian workers, she said, are wiping work databases and sanitizing their digital presence out of fear of retaliation for their advocacy work.
Asked whether she would return to America, Elizabeth said: “Getting the humanitarian aid sector back to where it was will take decades.”
“The toxicity he has spread isn’t going away anytime soon.
“Many of my friends who are from ethnic minority groups have experienced more day-to-day racism — Trump’s rhetoric around DEI has helped enable this.”
New Yorkers John and Nicky Ungar, 64 and 65, are in the UK for six months, though they’re seriously considering making the UK their permanent home.
Nicky said: “It’s truly heart-breaking to see what we’ve become; everyone I know is trying to get hold of an EU passport.”
The anxieties extended to younger Americans who have relocated to the UK.
Florida State University students Caden and Lilly, both 19, expressed fears about returning home after their studies.
Caden referenced the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk earlier this year, saying people have lost jobs for comments made in its aftermath.
He said: “I just don’t feel safe saying my views in Florida.”
Lilly pointed to Florida’s near-total abortion ban and wider safety concerns, she said: “They’re now talking about banning Plan B — It just doesn’t feel safe there.”
“If Trump stays, I’ll seriously consider moving to Europe alongside a lot of my university friends.”
While the 6,000 applications mark a record high, the ability for Americans to relocate to the UK remains limited to those with financial resources or UK connections, given the five-year residency requirement and visa costs.
However, even as demand increases, UK policy may restrict future applications.
The government’s May white paper, ‘Restoring control over the immigration system,’ aims to reduce net migration figures. Luchowa said this could impact enquiries from US nationals.
The US Embassy in London has been contacted for comment.
Featured image: Sign for US Embassy in Nine Elms. Credit: Rose Battey
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