Some ‘fearful’ Americans consider moving to Europe

When US President Donald Trump decided to seek a second term in the White House, a couple living in New York City made a life-changing decision.

If he won, they would move abroad. The couple said they had been willing to give Trump a go during his first term, but they’d watched in alarm as he returned to office and ended a range of policies aimed at promoting racial equity.

“We love this country, but we don’t love what it has become,” Davis, a 69-year-old educational consultant, said from their home in a New York City suburb. “When your identity is being attacked, there is a personal sense of... anger (and) frustration.”

Now, they’re working with an immigration lawyer to assess options in Europe. The couple are most interested in Portugal and Spain, attracted by the southern European lifestyle, and are looking at a digital nomad or retirement visa.

“It saddens me to move,” said Davis, who’ll be sorry to leave her local community behind. “But it’s also a situation, politically and socially, that is unacceptable.”

Government visa and citizenship data, as well as Reuters’ interviews with eight relocation firms, indicate an increased number of Americans are considering moving to Europe in the wake of Trump’s election - though the figures remain quite small for a nation of 340 million people.

US applications for Irish passports were at their highest level in a decade in the first two months of this year. Average monthly applications in January and February of nearly 4,300 were up around 60% from last year, according to data from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs.

In France, government data showed that long-stay visa requests from Americans stood at 2,383 in the first three months of 2025, compared to a total of 1,980 over the same period last year.

From January to March, French authorities have granted 2,178 long-stay visas versus 1,787 the year before.

And applications for UK passports in the last three months of 2024 - the latest period for which data is available - were a record of any quarter in the past two decades, with 1,708 applications submitted.

Relocation companies and websites helping people emigrate say that, at any given time in recent years, a significant number of Americans have shown an interest in moving abroad, citing issues including political divisions and gun violence.

Italian immigration advisor Marco Permunian, founder of Italian Citizenship Assistance, said the election of Democratic President Joe Biden in 2020 led to an increase in interest too, mainly from Republican voters.

But most of the relocation firms that Reuters spoke to said there has been a larger spike in interest since Trump returned to the White House, with many clients expressing concern over the direction of policy and social issues.

Some Hollywood stars left the US after Trump’s re-election in November, including talk show hosts Ellen de DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell, sparking media attention.

Thea Duncan, founder of Milan-based relocation business “Doing Italy,” said she been receiving enquiries nearly every day since the election from ordinary Americans seeking information.

“People are uncertain about what’s happening and what’s going to happen,” Duncan said.

In Britain, a company of immigration lawyers called Immigration Advice Service said it had seen a more than 25% increase in enquiries from the US. Its director, Ono Okeregha, said several clients had expressed worries over political changes under the Trump administration, particularly over rights for same-sex couples as several states consider weakening protections for their marriages.

Wendy Newman, a 57-year-old photographer, moved to London with her husband in 2022 in part because of the increasing political polarisation back home. She said she felt her rights were more secure in Britain, where she wants to stay permanently. She hopes her daughter, who still lives in the US but is applying for university in Britain, can move too.

“We just feel like there’s just too much at risk for her to stay there,” said Newman, fearful of curbs on women’s reproductive rights in the US and what she described as Trump’s “misogynistic tendencies.”

Reuters