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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

has anyone moved abroad because of brexit result ?

223 replies

pipsqueak25 · 26/01/2017 18:18

and if you have, how is your new life settling in ? maybe some people were thinking of going before it happened and this was the 'final straw'.
do you miss your old life ? what is better for you now ?
am really interested to know, but don't want to get on the debate bit of brexit there are other threads on here for that right now.

OP posts:

TriJo · 27/01/2017 09:57

RoI/UK dual citizen, living in London. We're in "wait and see" mode - our alternative is to move to Dublin, where my family live. We don't massively want to move back to Ireland but if needs must then we will and we'll make it work. There's a good bit of work for me in Dublin (I'm a software developer) but a lot of it would involve a bit of reskilling in technologies I wanted to get away from.

turbohamster · 27/01/2017 09:58

OH's job is unlikely to stay long term (European headquarters) so that's when we'll have to consider our options.

MrsLupo · 27/01/2017 10:11

wait to see what happens in Dutch and French elections first

Yes, this is the other thing, isn't it, and is what makes having to wait (because of DCs in our case) not actually a bad thing. The lasting legacy of the referendum result, whether or not we do actually Brexit, may well be to light a fuse under the whole EU that can't be extinguished. At that point, everything is up for grabs and all the options become less clear and, for the most part, less attractive.

This is the point where I start wishing I had an eclectic collection of passports to choose from - but for where exactly? I had a green card years ago but let it lapse when I came back to Europe and have always regretted it - until now! If there's one place where everyone must be desperately scanning the atlas for ideas, it's got to be the US at the moment. If I had a completely free choice, it would probably be Canada for me, but with a heavy heart as I feel very European. Ahhh, fuck.

FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN · 27/01/2017 10:14

If there's one place where everyone must be desperately scanning the atlas for ideas, it's got to be the US at the moment.

Yes, we aren't even casting a gaze at our USA passports. We just need to decide which of the two (US or British) to relinquish if we make permanent residency in the EU! Oh to have a crystal ball.

joystir59 · 27/01/2017 10:28

We aren't moving abroad, but we are moving north to get rid of our outstanding mortgage due to concerns about job security post Brexit. My OH works in export cargo at Heathrow airport and there are major concerns in her company as most freight comes from EU countries, through Heathrow and out to non-EU countries.

We are in the process of selling up as I write.

Strifae64 · 27/01/2017 10:29

I'm stuck here, both parents are British as is my wife. She doesn't want to leave her family and we have no other passport.

We love europe, but we are going to be dragged out of it agains't our will.

We are looking into moving to Austrailia potentially as my wife has a job which is sought after but this is extreme due to distance from family.

If I could I would leave and never come back.

Strifae64 · 27/01/2017 10:29

*Australia even

Draylon · 27/01/2017 10:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Expatwifewantsalife · 27/01/2017 10:45

Not exactly the same situation, but we were weighing up returning to the UK after 8 years in Asia before the referendum result, but will now be staying put. Too much uncertainty with regards to jobs, etc.

gotthemoononastick · 27/01/2017 11:00

More ripples in the pond...rumours of certain countries thinking of revoking the right to dual citizenship/passports.
In other words choose.

turkeyboots · 27/01/2017 11:08

We are drawing up plans to leave. Not being in the single market will kill DHs business so looking elsewhere and thankfully I'm an Irish national so he can come with me.

My brother and sil are also leaving. His employer will be moving if the single market goes so he's planning to go to Oz or Canada now.

ChipmunkSundays · 27/01/2017 11:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN · 27/01/2017 11:25

More ripples in the pond...rumours of certain countries thinking of revoking the right to dual citizenship/passports.
In other words choose.

I don't feel under any pressure at all to choose right now. Which countries are you alluding to?

scottishdiem · 27/01/2017 12:09

WhatchaMaCalllit - Thanks. I know what cead mile failte means but have no idea how to pronounce it!

Twinchaos1 · 27/01/2017 12:36

We have our fingers crossed that a hoped for relocation comes off in the summer, it takes time to sort things out. If it happens it would be temporary 3-5 years and give us time to see what everything looks like when the dust has settled. Still don't want to be living here but we want to make good choices and not much is clear ar present.

Nodowntime · 27/01/2017 12:47

I've skimmed through the topic, and as an expat who had got British citizenship (many years before Brexit) I don't understand why doesn't everyone who worries about their future(esp. people with British spouses) just apply for citizenship, surely it's easier than moving? (esp. when the whole family is involved?) Yes, there is a one-off cost, but isn't it worth getting for all the same rights as the natives. Most countries don't care how many passports you have.
It's what everyone outside of EU always had to do and does anyway if they wanted to settle here, visas, then citizenship...I'm especially confused by decisions to move somewhere like Canada or Australia and having to fit requirements, pay for visas etc, because you don't like the idea of having to get a visa or citizenship in UK.

FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN · 27/01/2017 12:56

Not everyone is leaving for passport reasons. And some who have UK passports are desperate to leave but can't.

specialsubject · 27/01/2017 12:57

I am also cynically amused by the planned dash to Australia, a place with strict immigration controls. (and an environmentally unsustainable population)

good on all those who actually walk the walk, glad to see that there are people who aren't just hot air. When is Geldof leaving?

WhatchaMaCalllit · 27/01/2017 12:57

scottishdiem (and anyone else interested )

Pronounce it like this - kayed meal-a fault-ya

It means "A hundred thousand welcomes"

scottishdiem · 27/01/2017 13:07

Nodowntime - we left cause the Home Office didnt and werent making things anywhere as near easy as you have written there. Its also a psychological thing for us on two fronts.

On a broader scale, Brexit was about immigration and the government is treating it as such. The Tory party conference announced that it would want lists of foreign workers from companies. It cancelled the idea when it had to acknowledge that kind of looked Nazi-like but the it direct leads to how DP and I feel (esp. DP). Immigrants are not welcome. Imagine seeing the Sun and the Daily Mail being two very very popular newspapers and being an immigrant. Regardless of status, there are large numbers of people buying into the editorial lines of those papers about the dangers of immigrants, the dislike of immigrants, the lies about immigrants and the general hatred of immigrants. We left because that is a heavy weight to bear on a daily basis. My DP is a high rate taxpayer, driven and is on a career track to earn even more. But an immigrant is still unwelcome in those popular press and because its popular it affects government policy.

Even EU citizens, been there for decades, are being told to leave by the Home Office. Its not easier than moving in the controlled way we have done compared to the sudden panic that the HO will tell you to leave.

A good friend of DP (mother of god child) has moved to Australia. Not because it was easy but because as a nurse she was wanted there (despite the Australians horrendous attitude to asylum seekers). We looked at Canada as well. Again, not because it was easy but because it is a country that looks at DP and says we want your skills, experience and ability to work in areas where there is a skills shortage (and pay well for it). In the UK, to stay, DP is not valued or wanted but at best, grudgingly accepted only because DP is my spouse. And even then our most recent correspondence with the HO basically was to leave but then come back on a different set of rules with no guarantee of a quick and successful application. Move to back Zimbabwe - bugger that, that country is on the brink of a violent collapse. So rather than wait for the go "home" letter we are being a little more proactive.

bgmama · 27/01/2017 13:15

We have left. We moved to DH's country for a trial period and I quite like it here. I had taken british citizenship before the move (we are both europeans) so that we could go back if I didn't like it here, but I don't think I am coming back. Sometimes I miss my old life in the UK but I don't feel welcome there anymore and most of my non-british friends who still live there are telling me the atmosphere post-referendum is not very pleasant.

motherofallhens · 27/01/2017 13:15

I don't understand why doesn't everyone who worries about their future(esp. people with British spouses) just apply for citizenship, surely it's easier than moving?

My OH & I are in this situation, Nodowntime, and to answer your question, my OH does not want to apply for citizenship in a country that appears - frankly - not to want him. Yes it sounds like an overly emotional response but I think what passport you hold is an emotional as well as a practical matter.

We have lived here for many years but it is more likely than before that we will leave eventually. We have always experienced the odd xenophobic comment but unfortunately Brexit has taken this to a whole new level by legitimising the kind of discussion that was - rightly in my view - unacceptable even a few years ago. But the problem is not just one of xenophobia. Politicians and other public figures (on both sides) are modelling a level of nastiness that legitimates intolerance more generally. It will be very hard to put back this nastiness back in the box once it has served its purpose. I have lived through something similar somewhere else and it keeps me awake at night just thinking about what kind of country we are creating for the next generation and beyond.

Nodowntime · 27/01/2017 13:16

No, I was talking ONLY about the people who are eligible to apply for citizenship but decide to leave in case their old age in this country turns out to be on different terms from the citizens. When it is rectifiable. That I cannot understand. I can understand wanting to leave for different reasons.

Though among my close friends are Portuguese, French, Spanish and German, none of them have British citizenship and none of them have been asked to leave or seem to be particularly worried about the future, but that's more about their attitude to life (optimistic/blase ;) ) than anything else. All of them have lived here 10+ years though and seem to like it/love it (even though we are in the totally Brexit county! but in a little 'cosmopolitan' island on its border).

motherofallhens · 27/01/2017 13:17

Oops, Scottishdiem types faster than me

scottishdiem · 27/01/2017 13:22

I think though motherofallhens that it helps when more than one person mentions not just the legalities but the psychological as well.

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