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US citizens in the UK · Institutions

Which Nest accounts accept US citizens

Last checked

Nest offers a pension to a US person.

If you already have an account with Nest, a second one there is usually the easier application, because Nest has already checked who you are. Each account below carries its verdict, the evidence behind it and the date it was checked.

At a glance

Account Verdict Last checked
SIPPs Opens

SIPPs

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Opens

Nest is the statutory workplace scheme rather than a self-invested pension, and a US citizen can join it directly. The test it publishes is that you are self-employed or the sole director of a company employing nobody else, ordinarily work in the UK, and are at least 16 and under 75. Citizenship is not in that test, and neither the scheme Order and Rules nor the member guide mentions US persons or FATCA, so this is an absence of a bar rather than a stated welcome. What Nest will not give you is a choice of holdings: seven ready-made in-house funds and no direct shares, so everything on offer is a pooled UK fund of the kind US tax treats as a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC.

Occupational trust regulated by The Pensions Regulator · online only

Account Terms The catch
Nest pension, self-employed
Annual fee
0.3% a year on the pot, plus 1.8% on every contribution paid in
Dealing fee
None, the funds are managed for you
Can hold
Seven in-house funds: the Retirement Date Fund that over 99% of members sit in, plus Higher Risk, Ethical, Sharia, Lower Growth, Guided Retirement and Ready to Retire. All pooled, so PFICs for US tax, and there is no direct share option.
Individual shares
No
 You pay in yourself by Direct Debit or debit card from a personal account, at least £10 a time.

Source: Nest joining as self-employed page, and the Nest Order and Rules article 19(4), read 2026-09-06 Last checked Nest's own page

Account names link to the provider's own site. momo has no active affiliate partnerships; if that changes it will be disclosed and will never change a verdict. Every institution, A to Z.

Confirm your own position with a cross-border specialist. Acceptance policies and tax rules change, and your facts may differ from the general case. Rates and terms here are the provider's published figures rather than an offer, and the provider decides each application on its own criteria. Use this as a map, not a ruling. Last checked .
Tax

SIPP US tax

The treaty generally lets a UK SIPP grow tax-deferred for US purposes, but the protection has limits. How the US treats contributions, growth and drawdown.

 Tax

US-UK tax treaty

The US-UK treaty stops most double taxation, but the saving clause lets the US tax its citizens almost as if it were not there. What survives the clause.

 Tax

Form 3520

A UK pension held in trust can be a foreign trust to the IRS. Rev. Proc. 2020-17 exempts qualifying retirement trusts from Forms 3520 and 3520-A, on conditions.