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Living overseas

Brexit implications

7 replies

TamanTun · 07/01/2018 08:36

Hi I've posted before about this on another thread but I'd like to get the opinions of those already living or thinking of living away from the UK. Is anyone about to be potentially affected by Brexit in that you have an EU spouse which means your family won't be able to return to the UK in the future should you need to? So the EU spouse will have no right to live in the UK in the future without a British passport? We're considering a posting abroad but this is a sticking point for us and I'm not sure we're going to be able to take the opportunity now.

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Sidmouthboats · 07/01/2018 08:44

Any EU citizen that has had residency in the U.K for 5 years or longer will not be affected by Brexit.

And those who have been here 5 years or less:

The only recognisable advantage for those EU citizens with residency of 5years or less with UK partners is tied to British nationality law. Under current legislation, those who have acquired permanent residence and wish to go on to apply for naturalisation as a British citizen are required to meet two main criteria:

Be free from any immigration restrictions for a further period of twelve months – in other words remain in the UK with permanent residence status for a further year; and
Be in possession of a permanent residence card when submitting a naturalisation application to become a British citizen.

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lljkk · 07/01/2018 08:51

Seems like lots of individual circumstances apply, hard to generalise, some parts still not decided, too.
I read that to get ILR/settled status now takes 10 yrs of residency to qualify.
Oh.. and lots of money can make anything possible, as usual.

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TamanTun · 07/01/2018 09:03

Thanks, he's been here longer than 10 years so can apply but the opportunity won't be around for ever and it seems the process to get citizenship takes a long time. We'd like to think that one day we can come back to care for elderly parents if it comes to it but Brexit seems to be putting a stop to that for us and for the opportunity to live abroad for a while.

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lljkk · 07/01/2018 09:44

A long time = 13 months?

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GinUser · 07/01/2018 12:51

I have lived in Europe for 30 years. I was extremely upset at the result of the Brexit poll. There is no way I would voluntarily return to the UK. I have permanent residency rights where I live and could also apply for dual nationality. I very much hope it will not come to that.
However, a good friend of mine, who lives in the UK, but also has a house in Europe, applied for dual nationality a couple of years ago (and got it) in anticipation of the Brexit result. I would not be surprised if he and his wife make a permanent move to Europe once their children have finished university.

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Mistigri · 07/01/2018 13:27

Any EU citizen that has had residency in the U.K for 5 years or longer will not be affected by Brexit.

We don't know this yet. They may well find that certain rights are lost or become more limited - for eg their right to work for an extended period abroad and then return to the UK; to bring dependents to live in the UK; to live in the UK with a non-EU spouse.

Ditto those of us who are UK citizens living in the EU - we do not know to what extent we will, for example, be able to being British dependents to the EU in future. My 80-something mother who lives alone in the UK could potentially be unable to go to live with her children in the EU should she need 24 hour care in the future.

We will only know the answer to these questions when a deal is actually done.

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henstooth · 08/01/2018 15:29

Hi - we've moved from the UK to an EU country and we were concerned that my DH wouldn't be able to come back (after 20 years in the UK), as permanent residency can be removed if you spend 2 years outside the UK.

In the end, he applied for British citizenship (which cost a lot of money), as I was getting so stressed about it all. I am also applying for French citizenship, so I can continue to live in the EU should we choose to.

It is a nightmare, as nobody really knows for sure what rights we will have post-Brexit and whether those 'promises' from the current government may change anyway, with a future government....

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