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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

in being scared that the UK could leave the EU?

52 replies

OiYou · 09/05/2014 11:41

I'm an American here living here because I have dual nationality with an EU country.

I am married to my dh I have lived here for years but moved away 5 years ago and we came back this year. I have not been in the country long enough to apply for citizenship.

So what the fuck happens to me if you leave the EU?

What happens to knob head I mean Nigel Farage's German wife?

OP posts:
SavoyCabbage · 09/05/2014 12:42

You definitely do not automatically get to live in the UK if you are married to a British person but are from a non EU country.

My dh is Australian. We have been married for 13 years. Our two british children were born in Britain. He has lived in England for almost two decades previously. He earns loads of money.

We applied a year ago for him to return to the uk with me and our dc. Rejected.

And we are not alone.

britcits.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-us.html

Original poster
OiYou · 09/05/2014 12:42

NO dual nationality USA/another EU country. BUt I am able to reside here due to the other nationality.

I think people think it's easier to marry and reside here than it actually is from some posts above.

It's also expensive to go through the paperwork.

OP posts:
Mrsjayy · 09/05/2014 12:43

right ok I am a bit thick so didnt really know

Original poster
OiYou · 09/05/2014 12:43

xpost savoy harsh, on what grounds?!

OP posts:
Mrsjayy · 09/05/2014 12:44

woman I know has been living here for 15 years didnt get her citizenship for 10 years

silveroldie2 · 09/05/2014 12:44

We will if the bloody Government would give us a referendum now and not some time in the distant future never. I am definitely in favour of leaving and a lot of other people are too.

Original poster
OiYou · 09/05/2014 12:45

NO, you aren't thick. That is the impression people try and sell the public. If you haven't got to go through it you wouldn't know!

I've heard politicans make it sounds like if you once had a flat mate that lives here you can move out here too (which is why we must close our borders!). TBF I don't think half of them understand either.

OP posts:
SavoyCabbage · 09/05/2014 12:50

That's just the law. Since last July.

I would have to come without him and get a job earning £18500 and keep it for six months then apply so we would be apart for a minimum of 9 months.

We would have to run two houses and my dh wouldn't be with us.

We are lucky in that at least I would be able to earn that. Some people can't. There was a woman whose dh was rejected recently as part of her income was overtime which can't be counted.

I agree that people don't get how hard all of this is. It's expensive to just apply in the first place.

Original poster
OiYou · 09/05/2014 12:59

That is crazy savoy :( is his visa dependent on you working as well? What would happen if you lost your job?

I need to start looking in to all this because I have not got a fucking clue. I know people say we couldn't leave but I never thought I would see people happily voting UKIP in "protest". Hmm

It's easy to forget actual humans will be affected by people's protests.

OP posts:
Original poster
OiYou · 09/05/2014 13:00

Oh sorry, I misread that you are currently living in Oz not in the UK

OP posts:
GobbolinoCat · 09/05/2014 13:10

  • So is he proposing a skills check at the border?

Going to live in other countries isn't easy either outside the EU.

We would never have any hope of getting green card....Canada is also a nightmare as is Oz, and NZ, they all do skills checks!

Its rigorous and I believe Canada used to have over 100 types of jobs they wanted people to migrate there to do, now that list has been cut to under 30 Shock so if you do not fall into that category then you don't even begin apply.

Personally I think its unfair for us to allow open un skilled immigration from the EU and yet heavily penalise skilled workers from elsewhere.

As a country we should be open to the best brains/workers who want to come here from all over the world.....

Its a shame we have to show we are cracking down on immigration to the rest of the world...and yet anyone can come from EU.

pointythings · 09/05/2014 13:22

I've been here almost 17 years so can apply for citizenship if I want to. I will if I really have to, I have put down roots here.

Whatever happens, I would really like to see some answers from all those politicians who are in favour of the UK leaving the EU to the following question:

What will you do about those who are already here?

It's the uncertainty that is getting to me.

Degustibusnonestdisputandem · 09/05/2014 13:23

The whole visa process for non EU citizens is very, very expensive. I managed to get in under the old spouse visa rules (though would have qualified under the new ones). The initial visa was something like £750, then 2 years later Indefinite leave to remain cost us £1350. Despite now being eligible for citizenship, I haven't yet applied as that's another £900 odd Sad

Basically in order to appear to be 'doing something' about immigration, the govt has picked on the only immigrants they can: non-EU ones.

Yet, bizarrely enough, being Australian, I am eligible to vote...

SavoyCabbage · 09/05/2014 13:27

Yes we have been living in Australia for 5 years. We had been here 4 when we tried to return. I'm british though as are our dc and we are properly married. I mean in a genuine relationship. Nobody can believe the situation we are in.

Dh getting a visa would be dependant on me getting a job. And I'll be a single parent as he won't be able to come.

Original poster
OiYou · 09/05/2014 13:27

gobbolino

Fine I understand that some people feel that way. But the horse has bolted, what happens to those of us who are "unskilled"?

I'm here I have a family. I moved here because of my dh. Not to take away any of your shitty jobs that I have held. (which for the record I got because I was the best candidate- not because I agreed to work for less!)

I have 3 kids. What about them, I want some fucking answers like pointythings does.

I have 3 children and am a sahp, I am not "skilled". I take care of my 3 not school age kids (although trust me no one else would want that job).

Will I have to go as I am not contributing to the GDP?

What if dh divorces me? I can't take my children out of the country without his permission. And if I can't stay unless married, I would lose my children. I'm sure (as much as any of us can be) that that scenario won't be an issue. But it sure as hell could be for some people.

OP posts:
Original poster
OiYou · 09/05/2014 13:31

That's vile savoy. I hope that thousands more families (like Ikea) aren't also put in that situation if they want/need to come home. It's scary. Again it's easy for the politcans to forget that this will forget the Brits abroad (millions of them) and they will need to come home and get jobs (potentially with their immigrant spouse!)

OP posts:
Butterflystencil · 09/05/2014 13:43

Watching this thread with interest.

SavoyCabbage · 09/05/2014 13:47

There are lots of people in the same situation as us. It seems to be harder when the woman is British if she has given up her job, like I did, to be a trailing spouse.

My husbands income is not taken into consideration at all as he isn't eligible to work in the uk.

My French friend has just moved to London with her Australian dh and two australian children which she can do as she's a eu citizen so falls under a different law. It's ridiculously frustrating.

JassyRadlett · 09/05/2014 13:50

Yep. Over the years (WHM visa, work permit, second work visa, transfer to spouse/UMP visa, ILR) the Government's had the best part of £5K from me. Oddly, citizenship isn't top of my list of financial priorities (but worry not, the Govt is still doing pretty well out of me through the tax system).

Withdrawal from the EU wouldn't affect me directly as my husband is British, but I think it would have a huge impact on the country economically by hitting our biggest export market. So we'd probably have to consider leaving anyway - long term state of the economy and opportunities for our children are one of our agreed emigration triggers.

pointythings · 09/05/2014 14:00

Oi I have had quite good jobs here, apart from my first, and I haven't undercut anyone to get them - just been the best candidate. The one time I negotiated my salary, it was in an upward direction. I'm lucky in the sense that I have always worked.

And what's happening to Brits with non-EU spouses is downright disgusting - sledgehammer law, and they can't even claim unintended consequences because they must have known there would be many cases like savoy's.

My DH is American, works on an air base as a civilian, gets paid in US$, pays US taxes, does not use the NHS. He buys stuff on the UK economy so in that sense is also paying UK taxes.

Every 5 years he has to shell out £££ for the privilege of staying here. Yep, the government does very well out of us forriners.

The thing is, I love the UK. I love most of its people, I feel at home here. I don't want to go back to the Netherlands, which is why I'd naturalise if the UK leaves the EU. But I just want to know what the plan is - so far all I'm hearing is a pile of xenophobic rhetoric.

ribbityribbit · 09/05/2014 14:09

I was in the same position, Savoy - in the end we've settled in DH's home country instead of the UK because we didn't want to be separated for 9 months (we were living abroad when we met). It isn't a nice feeling to know I can't bring my family home to live in the UK if my parents get ill and need care, for example.

I don't think people understand the impact of anti-immigration rhetoric until they see it up close. I find the same thing here in the USA - on the one hand my in-laws have been shocked and upset at how lengthy and expensive the immigration process has been for me, but on the other hand many of them still "share" ridiculous anti-immigrant stuff on Facebook!

sarinka · 09/05/2014 14:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Rebecca2014 · 09/05/2014 15:30

You are being silly, they are not going to kick anyone out. I think it just be for new people wanting to come to the UK so you have to apply for a visa properly.

Taz1212 · 09/05/2014 15:33

I obviously know nothing about your financial situation but if you've moved back this year to the UK you might want to look into FATCA and the possible implications for you to make sure you are sorted on the IRS reporting side of things.

WidowWadman · 09/05/2014 15:40

ThePriory - why should marriage to a Brit automatically grant citizenship after the UK leave the EU, when it doesn't now, neither to EU nor to non EU Citizens? And in fact, to sponsor a spousal visa the UK citizen partner would need to earn at least £18,600 p.a.? (Which is something which currently does tear families apart)

It's a common misconception that marriage to a UK citizen grants immigrants citizenship, if at most it slightly eases the length of the wait until you can apply?

The anti-immigration and anti-EU rhetoric of recent times was enough to scare me into applying for citizenship. I'll have my ceremony next month, which is a big relief. For me as EU-spouse of a UK citizen it was relatively easy and relatively cheap (the whole shebang set me back around £1200 for application, LITUK and language tests), people from outside the EU have much higher fees and longer waits.