ANALYSIS: The American Citizen Inflow To UK – What's Driving It?

Tom Burroughes

8 May 2026

In all the complaints about how some HNW individuals are quitting the UK rather than entering it in search of new, less heavily taxed pastures, there's a bit of an exception: Americans.

This sort of trend might seem odd for those used to seeing the US, not the UK, as the land of opportunity. While the UK still has its charms, stories about fraying public infrastructure, crime and quality of life are rife. The current Labour government has hiked taxes to late 1940s levels and removed the old resident non-domicile system. Added to that, the net of inheritance tax has widened.

But it appears that the recent replacement of the resident “non-dom” regime – a desire to avoid social and political volatility in the US, and a more positive wish to seek variety and adventure abroad – is fuelling a desire among some US citizens to leave, and they're interested in the UK. Lawyers tell WealthBriefing that their caseloads of US citizens seeking options in the UK have risen considerably.

“A few years ago, I would have had one or two Americans on my books at any one time…now, 40 per cent of clients on my books are American. That is pretty significant,” Zoe Jacob, the head of Boodle Hatfield’s immigration team, told this publication in an interview. “It is coming up in conversations. Some clients are thinking of only spending up to four years in the UK; others are looking at being here for longer.

“We have tried to make our clients aware of what the options are in the UK and other in our sphere have done the same,” Jacob said.

In 2025 alone, 8,790 US citizens applied for British citizenship, with record-breaking application volumes in the final quarter.

One factor is the residency system that finance minister Rachel Reeves brought in as part of her November 2024 Budget. During the first four years of UK residence, a new foreign income and gains (FIG) regime can give qualifying individuals a four-year reprieve from taxes if they have lived outside the UK for at least 10 years. Four years is not a long period, but for people such as tech entrepreneurs, there’s still value to it.

A question that always arises is how much choice US expats have, because they are taxed on a worldwide basis, contrasting with the territorial approach that most citizens enjoy. If Americans want to renounce their citizenship, it carries a cost.

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At (being acquired by US-based Nuveen); and have also pressed US lawmakers in Washington DC to move towards residency-based tax and away from the worldwide tax regime.

As Boodle Hatfield’s Jacob summed up: “the London market has become very sophisticated in serving Americans. There are many more Americans in London now.”