LONDON: A record number of Americans applied for British citizenship in the first three months of this year, and for the right to live and work in Britain indefinitely, according to official data.In the year to March, 6,618 Americans applied for British citizenship, the highest annual figure since records began in 2004, according to statistics released by Britain’s Home Office on Thursday. More than 1,900 of those applications were made between Jan and March – the highest number for any quarter on record.Immigration lawyers said they had received an increased number of inquiries from people in the US about possibly relocating to Britain in the wake of President Trump’s reelection in Nov.Separate data published by the Home Office showed that a record number of Americans were given the right to settle in Britain in 2024 – of the 5,521 settlement applications granted for US citizens, most were for people who are eligible because of their spouses, parents and other family links, while a substantial portion were for people who had originally arrived in Britain on temporary visas for “skilled workers” and want to remain.
