Plan B citizenship applications from US nationals jumped 77% through October 2025, exceeding Henley & Partners’ full 2024 total in 10 months, the firm’s managing director Dominic Volek said. Americans now make up almost 40% of Henley’s global applications. Most aren’t leaving the United States. They’re buying a legal escape hatch held in reserve.
The pathways break into three categories. Each carries different costs, different timelines and a different relationship with the IRS.
Why Plan B citizenship demand is climbing
The shift accelerated after Covid-era travel restrictions exposed how fragile a single-passport strategy could be. Henley clients described feeling “claustrophobia” when borders closed. Political volatility extended the trend. Henley recorded a 183% jump in US enquiries between Q1 2024 and Q1 2025.
Most affluent Americans pursuing Plan B citizenship are buying optionality, not relocating. The second passport functions as insurance on generational wealth and physical mobility, sitting alongside trusts and offshore accounts in the family planning portfolio. AE has tracked the trend across multiple data points and surveys.
Citizenship by descent: the cheapest path
A US passport gives visa-free access to about 180 countries but caps EU stays at 90 days. Citizenship by descent converts that into open-ended EU access for those who qualify. The most-used ancestry routes for Americans:
- Ireland. Citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland, with Foreign Births Register options for great-grandchildren in some cases. Allows dual citizenship.
- Poland. Citizenship by descent for those with Polish ancestors who held citizenship after 1920. Documentation-heavy.
- Italy. Once the most generous descent program in Europe. Now sharply restricted. Law 74/2025, enacted in May 2025, limits eligibility to applicants with a parent or grandparent born in Italy, ending the great-grandparent route entirely. Italy’s Constitutional Court upheld the law in March 2026.
- Spain. No standard ancestry route for most Americans, but the country reduces the standard 10-year residency requirement to two years for citizens of Latin American countries, the Philippines, Andorra or Equatorial Guinea. Marriage to a Spanish citizen reduces the clock to one year.
The Italian change is the largest single window-closing in this category in decades. Spain ended its Franco-era exile law. Portugal lengthened naturalization timelines. The pattern in Europe is restriction.
Fast-track citizenship and residency programs
For applicants without qualifying ancestors, the Caribbean and parts of Latin America offer the shortest timelines.
- St. Kitts and Nevis. Citizenship in about six months. Minimum $250,000 contribution to the Sustainable Island State Contribution fund, or $325,000 in approved real estate. The Caribbean’s longest-running citizenship-by-investment program, established in 1984.
- Mexico. Residency approved in under a day at one of 50 US-based consulates for qualifying applicants. Convertible to citizenship after five years.
- Uruguay. Residency applications accepted on arrival, with relatively modest financial requirements. Stable democracy, LGBTQ+ protections, accessible healthcare.
These programs trade prestige for speed. A Caribbean passport functions as a backup travel document and a physical refuge. Latin American residencies trade glamour for governance.
Golden visas and the high end of the market
Golden visa programs let wealthy applicants buy residency, and eventually citizenship, through real estate or capital investment. Several European countries are phasing them out under EU pressure. Greece took the top spot in Henley’s 2025 Global Residence Program Index, displacing Portugal, which had held or shared first place for nine years. Malta retained the top spot in the citizenship-by-investment ranking for the tenth consecutive year, with a 36-month residence requirement before naturalization.
Entry prices range from about $75,000 to well over $1 million depending on jurisdiction and program structure. Vetting is rigorous. Timelines from application to citizenship can stretch several years even when the residency itself is granted quickly.
New Zealand’s revamped Active Investor Plus visa targets serious capital with a structured path to permanent residence, requiring NZD 5 million under the Growth category or NZD 10 million under the Balanced category. Greece’s €250,000 startup investment route opened a new pathway within the Golden Visa program in 2025, steering capital from property purchases toward companies on the Elevate Greece registry.
The IRS problem
For Americans, every Plan B calculation runs through the IRS. The United States is one of two countries that tax based on citizenship rather than residence. A second passport doesn’t reduce US tax exposure on worldwide income. Capturing the tax benefits of jurisdictions like Malta or the UAE typically requires formally renouncing US citizenship, which triggers its own filings, exit tax exposure and a permanent legal break.
The IRS continues to claim its share until ties are formally severed. That calculus turns Plan B citizenship from a hedge into a decision tree. For most affluent Americans, the second passport stays as backup. The renunciation question waits.
A separate political risk has entered the picture in 2025. Senator Bernie Moreno’s Exclusive Citizenship Act would, if enacted, force current dual citizens to choose between US citizenship and any other within one year. The bill remains a proposal. Constitutional scholars have raised serious doubts about its legality under the 14th Amendment and Supreme Court precedent. The fact that it exists has accelerated planning conversations.
What this means for emigration patterns
The Henley application surge tracks with the broader pattern AE has documented across dual citizenship pursuits and offshore wealth strategies. The volume is real. The follow-through is selective.
Most clients buying Plan B citizenship aren’t leaving the United States. They’re paying for the right to leave, treating mobility itself as a financial asset. The data point worth watching is whether application volume continues climbing into 2026, and whether the renunciation numbers, which are tracked separately, follow.
