‘We love this country, but not what it’s become’: More US citizens seek EU visas after Trump re-election

LONDON/NEW YORK, May 5 — When US President Donald Trump decided to seek a second term in the White House, Doris Davis and Susie Bartlett – an interracial lesbian 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 and rights for LGBTQ+ people.

“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 is most interested in Portugal and Spain, attracted by the southern European lifestyle, and are looking at a digital nomad or retirement visa. Bartlett, who is 52, is retired.

“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.”

Applications for UK passports from US citizens rose to 1,708 submissions in the last three months of 2024. — AFP pic

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 application in January and February of nearly 4,300 were up around 60 per cent 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.

Overwhelming demand

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 has 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 per cent 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”.

Trump celebrated the first 100 days of what is already one of the most radical and far-reaching presidencies in US history, but polls show Americans becoming disenchanted with the economic and political tumult. – AFP pic

Trump has denied repeatedly allegations of misogyny and sexual misconduct, describing accusations in 2017 as “fake news”. Blaxit, a company that helps Black Americans move abroad, saw traffic to its site jump over 50 per cent following the election, its founder Chrishan Wright said. It has also seen a 20 per cent increase in its paid membership community, Blaxit Global Passport, which costs US$16.99 per month, she said.

Wright, originally from New York, moved to Portugal two years ago and said Trump returning to the White House reassured her that she had made the right decision. According to an exit poll by Edison Research, Trump won just 13 per cent of Black voters in November, 1 percentage point higher than 2020, while Kamala Harris garnered 86 per cent .

‘Relative safety’

Also feeling disillusioned, a young transgender couple living in Colorado, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted, said they are hoping to secure a student visa to start a new life in Italy. Trump has said the United States would recognise only two sexes, male and female. He has also sought to restrict gender transition care for people under 19 and to ban transgender people from serving in the US military.

But they are under no illusion Europe will be perfect, as right-wing populist parties make political gains across the continent, including in Italy - where the conservative government portrays itself as a guardian of traditional values. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni vowed, when she came to power in 2022, to combat what she calls the “LGBT lobby” and to defend the “natural family”.

In Germany, far-right

Alternative for Germany came second in February’s federal election. In neighbouring France, Marine Le Pen, leader of far-right National Rally party, had been a front-runner in opinion polls for the 2027 presidential election but was banned last month from running for office for five years.

Wright, from Blaxit, said the political situation in some European countries was “troublesome” but many Americans remained interested in coming to the continent regardless. Knowing exactly how many people will follow through on their interest is difficult, said Julien Faliu, founder and CEO of online expatriate community Expat.com.

Faliu said Expat.com saw an increase of around 26 per cent in requests from Americans over the last two years. “I’ve been talking to US citizens who say: ‘If Trump is re-elected, we will be moving’. He got re-elected, so now what are you doing?” Faliu said.

“When there’s an election, it’s always like that.”

Hurdles everywhere

Some Hollywood stars like Ellen de DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnel left the US for Europe after Trump’s re-election in November 2024. — Reuters pic

There are many hurdles for would-be expats.

Relocate.me, a relocation platform, identified some of the disincentives: difficulties in securing jobs abroad, restrictions on remote work, lower salaries in Europe, and the US tax system – which taxes its citizens on worldwide income.

For those who proceed, however, there are several visa options. Digital nomads visa for remote workers in countries such as Portugal, Spain and Italy are popular. Retirement visas, work permits and student visas are also in high demand, according to relocation firms. But some Europeans – already struggling to cope with mass tourism and a housing crisis – don’t relish the prospect of more foreign arrivals. National authorities are restricting some controversial schemes that offered access to visas for the wealthy. The option of buying real estate to secure a golden visa is no longer a possibility in Portugal, and the Spanish scheme ended in April after the system was criticised for stoking an affordable housing crisis.

Rebeca Caballero, from Spanish real estate developer Gilmar, said they had received an influx of interest from American clients in the six months before the scheme ended. “I secured investments from three clients who bought homes for the golden visa without even coming to see them,” Caballero said. — Reuters