Immigration attorneys and investment migration firms say interest from Americans seeking second passports has surged in recent years.
The Trump administration called it a win, proof that deportations and tighter visa restrictions were working. What they did not mention is that Americans are also leaving, and the ones with money are not just leaving, they are buying their way out permanently.
The U.S. has quietly replaced China as the largest market for clients seeking second and third citizenships. Eric Major, CEO of investment migration advisory firm Latitude World, told Forbes that Americans have gone from 4% to 74% of his entire business since 2019.
A study from Apex Capital Partners set to release next month found that 61% of Americans earning over $200,000 annually are considering relocating to another country within five years. Henley & Partners reported that inquiries from U.S. nationals seeking alternative residence or citizenship jumped 183% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2025 alone, right after Trump secured a second term.
Nuri Katz, president of Apex Capital Partners, noted the survey split respondents by political leaning and it came back 50-50. This is not a left or right story. “People on the left are scared Trump might run for a third term, and people on the right are afraid of somebody like a Mamdani coming in and starting to nationalize things, and so everyone’s worried,” Katz told Forbes.
The move is being treated less like emigration and more like portfolio diversification. Katz said some clients collect citizenships the same way others collect watches, not out of necessity, but because the optionality has real value. “Americans now get it, that you’re exposed with just one citizenship,” Major said. Cost of living ranked as the top motivator at 68% in the Apex study, with political climate close behind at 54%.
For the ultra wealthy, New Zealand is the bunker play. English speaking, far from every major conflict zone, and sitting at No. 8 on Henley & Partners’ Global Residence Program Index. The entry point is $5 million New Zealand dollars (about $3 million USD) and it is an investment, not a donation. Most buyers get knocked out by the price.
Europe is the first choice for Americans who want real mobility, since one passport moves you across 29 Schengen countries. The problem is every major entry point has gotten more expensive or more complicated.
Greece nearly quadrupled its golden visa minimum to €800,000 (about $928,000 USD) in top markets. Spain scrapped its program entirely. Portugal doubled the residency wait time to ten years before citizenship is even on the table. Malta shifted away from straight investment and now requires applicants to prove exceptional contributions. The market is shrinking and the window that existed five years ago is mostly gone.
The fastest and most affordable route is the Eastern Caribbean, where citizenship in one of seven OECS countries runs about $250,000 USD and comes through in four to six months. For Americans with European ancestry, the cheapest move of all is a bloodline check. Irish citizenship applications through descent jumped 63% last year, and Canadian applications from Americans now outpace the next nine source countries combined.
The administration launched the Gold Card visa promising fast-track U.S. residency for $5 million. The pitch was a million sold. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed 1,000 sold in a single Middle East trip. The reality was that the pool of buyers willing to hand over $5 million outright, not as an investment, was nowhere near that big. By September the price dropped 80% to $1 million. The tax abatement got pulled. Two months after a White House spokesman called it a massive success, only one Gold Card had actually been approved. “Bumping the price down to $1 million was huge, but it’s still not working,” Katz said.
What this tells you is that enough Americans have done the math and decided that betting everything on one country, this one included, is a risk they are no longer comfortable with.
Sen. Bernie Moreno introduced a bill in December to eliminate dual citizenship and require Americans to owe “sole and exclusive allegiance to the United States.” The fact that legislation like that is even being written tells you the movement is real enough to worry people in power.
