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AIBU?

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AmazonAntiqueStore · 21/09/2026 02:45

i think there may be a bit more to this story than is in the article.

OP posts:
ThatLoudCat · 21/09/2026 03:02

It seems odd that he's lived and worked in Sweden for 9 years and says that he's only learnt basic Swedish.

suburberphobe · 21/09/2026 03:14

@ThatLoudCat

Foreign languages (sp?) are notoriously hard for Brits to learn. Especially for people his age.

I have an English friend been here 50 years, barely speaks the language, didn't stop him making a life, job, kids....

No-one throwing him out of my EU country thank fuck.

OP posts:
Natsku · 21/09/2026 04:25

Sweden has been much stricter on this than other EU countries, seems especially harsh in cases like the old man with dementia living in a care home - how was he expected to make his application??

ThePM · 21/09/2026 04:32

OP, you are correct but people who voted for Brexit intended that foreigners living in Britain should permanently feel insecure, as it makes them feel superior.

The fact that some British people would be on the receiving end was a case of just desserts for getting above themselves.

You are wrong about languages though - English speakers are perfectly capable of learning forrin languages when it suits, but you’d be surprised how many think it’s beneath them (massive side-eye to my own XH)

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 21/09/2026 05:05

Yes it has, Brexit has unnecessarily resulted in a lot of problems/ things that make things harder for lots of people.
for Brits living abroad with none British partners it is now so much harder to move back.

malificent7 · 21/09/2026 05:28

Yanbu...it's a shit show but the UK seems to want to live in isolation.

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 21/09/2026 05:31

The warnings were there in the remain campaign but were dismissed by lots as being ridiculous and something that would never happen. We should never have left the EU.

Platypusdiver · 21/09/2026 05:32

Apparently there was a high expectation and relatively short time set by the immigration agency.

British people living in sweden needed to produce 5 years of tax receipts and certificates from employers. Within 2 years. (I don't know what happened if you had been living there less than 5 years.)

But if he did what was asked, he should have been okay.

There would have alot of contact from migrationsverket. There must a lot that is not reported here.

Migrationsverket are hardline. Anyone who knows anyone who's had dealing with them knows that you do what they say. No-one minds when it is immigrants from outside europe. I have a feeling that here, this couple thought that the authorities would be lenient because he is british.

BunkBedsArePeopleShelves · 21/09/2026 05:38

He had years to sort out his status and just didn't. He could be living there still if he'd just done the paperwork

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 21/09/2026 05:43

BunkBedsArePeopleShelves · 21/09/2026 05:38

He had years to sort out his status and just didn't. He could be living there still if he'd just done the paperwork

Not necessarily, people are doing the paperwork and being denied residency all over the eu due to not meeting the requirements in terms of income etc. Requirements that didn’t exist previously.

PatienceOfEngels · 21/09/2026 05:52

I agree that it's heartbreaking. The Swedes are taking a very hardline approach to the Brexit agreement, but there have also been lots of issues in the UK as well with the Home Office and settled status. The requirements for anyone moving to the UK now from an EU country with a UK partner are also harsher, especially if the Brit works part-time or in a lower paid profession. Both my DS and I have EU partners. She lives in the UK and her partner already has post-Brexit settlement status but if they were to move to the UK now she would not earn enough to meet the partner visa requirements since he is the higher earner. Her profession is lower paid and she takes on childcare responsibilities, while he works full-time. I know other couples where the woman has had to stay full time in their higher paid profession and take minimal maternity leave so they can meet the financial support requirements for their partner.

It's not just Sweden. The country I live in has the 2nd or 3rd highest number of deportations of Brits post-Brexit. Attitudes to immigration are hardening with right wing parties gaining ground in many EU countries. I applied for my EU citizenship the week after the Brexit vote (been here 20 years now) as I didn't trust to wait to see what the outcome for people like me would be and didn't want to be in the situation where I needed a visa to live in the same country as my children.

Yello24 · 21/09/2026 06:02

Agree there may be more to the story but probably he’s a victim of being an ‘easy case’ to appease immigration objectors and improve removal statistics.
It’s extremely hard to remove the undocumented people or those from unstable countries but he was a quick win for them. I am surprised he didn’t qualify on compassionate grounds but we may not know the full story.

Seaitoverthere · 21/09/2026 06:12

It is a steaming pile of shit and those who don’t have family that are from other counties don’t realise how it can be . But it is what it is and we just have to crack on.

Platypusdiver · 21/09/2026 06:30

I am adding to my previous comment. Apparently all that was needed was to apply for a residency status before dec 2021. I feel that is the issue here. This guy didn’t and probably ignored it for years. Because if he was working legally, this would have been flagged up years ago.

There certainly is an argument that the Swedish immigration agency did not allow enough time. If you consider the extent of the change and the consequences for not applying. But on the other hand there has to be a cut off point and the wish of the uk government was that its citizens are not eu members.

Federicacaca · 21/09/2026 06:35

Agree with other posters.
He just didn’t sort his paperwork. It’s a non story.

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 21/09/2026 06:46

Federicacaca · 21/09/2026 06:35

Agree with other posters.
He just didn’t sort his paperwork. It’s a non story.

and what about the man in the article with dementia who didn’t have the means to do the paperwork. It is not a non story. Loads of lives have been made significantly harder or their options/ability to live in their own country significantly reduced

Federicacaca · 21/09/2026 06:57

I suspect there is more to that story too personally.
I am a foreigner myself by the way with Leave to remain in the Uk.
I agree Brexit fucked you guys over in the UK, but it’s not difficult to apply to leave to remain
or citizenship. And of course British
people can learn Swedish. Lots do.

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 21/09/2026 07:00

Lots of countries don’t allow dual citizenship

Federicacaca · 21/09/2026 07:10

Leave to remain isn’t citizenship. Both Sweden and the Uk allows it.

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 21/09/2026 07:13

Ok but not everyone is entitled to leave to remain

Federicacaca · 21/09/2026 07:29

The people in the article seems to have lived in Sweden for years without attempting to sort their status. Like I said, I am no fan of Brexit, but it’s also not difficult to sort out your status one way or another after 10 years or whatever in another country.

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 21/09/2026 07:32

There isn't enough detail in the article to understand what actually happened in this case, but Brexit is undoubtedly a shitshow. Its cheerleaders will never admit that though.

BunkBedsArePeopleShelves · 21/09/2026 07:32

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 21/09/2026 07:00

Lots of countries don’t allow dual citizenship

Very few.

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