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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

If You Planned to Retire in an EU Country what Are You Plans Now?

202 replies

ZaraW · 14/12/2020 09:26

Not really AIBU but interested to see what others plans are. I'm 50 next year and always hoped to retire to Italy when I was around 60.

Obviously, that's not going to happen. If you planned to do the same what will you do now?

A) Relocate within the UK to countryside, coast etc.
B) Retire to a country outside of the EU. I thought about Thailand as I love it but the heat and humidity would be too much on a permanent basis.
C) Stay where you and travel to Europe for the permitted time.
D) Other

Covid has got me thinking about future plans and I just don't know what I want.

OP posts:
onlythepianoplayer · 15/12/2020 13:38

if it is actually untraceable you can't get citizenship...you need to prove the link from an Irish grandparent to you, via birth and marriage certs. No certs, no passport.

Unfortunately I think Blair’s version of FOM was what landed us in this mess in the first place

WTF does that even mean?

dreamydreamer333 · 15/12/2020 13:40

@tara66

How does one find untraceable Irish birth certificates of an Irish grandfather if one does not even know where to start because of death and divorce? One can get an Irish passport with a grand parent's birth certificate.
If you have his date of birth, name and place of birth you should be able to obtain a copy.
notimagain · 15/12/2020 13:53

Isn’t that what the talk are based on. Countries cherry picking the best bits for them in exchange for everything else.

I guess that might be one way of looking at it but IMHO asking for something of the scale of continued FOM for work purposes for British nationals to and from the EU whilst not allowing EU nationals the reciprocal right wouldn't be so much as cherry picking as trying to nick the whole orchard and giving nothing in return ( and I suspect many on the UK side did not and still do not want to allow EU national FOM the UK)...

I take it by "I think Blair’s version of FOM was what landed us in this mess in the first place" you mean his decision/the UK's unilateral decision to allow early access to the UK by nationals of the accession states back in whenever it was?

Itscoldouthere · 15/12/2020 13:56

It's not as simple as having grandparents birth certificate to get an Irish passport. You need birth, death and marriage certificates, then you need to get your name in the register of births abroad, once you have done that you can then apply for an Irish passport.
I am currently trying to do this for my husband, he is Scottish but with Irish grandparents.
I already have an Irish passport as I was born in Northern Ireland (but left when young) this has also allowed my DC to get Irish passports.
We hope to semi retire to France in about 5 years time, unless we fall in love with Canada, which we recently moved to with DH job, although gaining residency here would be more complex.

tara66 · 15/12/2020 14:11

Thanks for replies regarding finding Irish grandfather's birth certificate. I don't know where he was born. Also can only calculate his age from UK Census Records. My mother left my father and never spoke about him or his family - my father's father was born in Ireland and had a very common Irish name but was born in before the Records Office (which housed Birth Certificates) in Dublin was burnt down in 1917 .

onlythepianoplayer · 15/12/2020 14:15

If you don't know where he was born or his date of birth and he has a common name, its unlikely you will be able to find a birth certificate. You would also need his marriage certificate so would need his wifes name and date of birth, and you would need your fathers birth certificate and your parents marriage certificate as well.

Oliversmumsarmy · 15/12/2020 14:16

I take it by "I think Blair’s version of FOM was what landed us in this mess in the first place" you mean his decision/the UK's unilateral decision to allow early access to the UK by nationals of the accession states back in whenever it was

No I meant him throwing the doors open without any form of checks that the people coming in had jobs or homes to go to or reasonable funds to get them going in the first place. Not the first port of call being the housing office or which doorway to sleep in.

DontStopThinkingAboutTomorrow · 15/12/2020 14:18

It's not that simple even when you have the certificate.
My grandparents were born in Ireland, but although I have all their details, the Irish officials want photo ID from my parent, who has none and doesn't have a passport and doesn't drive. It complicates things quite a lot, although I'm sure I could find a way around it if I was really determined.

That said, to @tara66, I have the birth certificate of a ancestor born prior to 1916. You could try baptism records? Or, is your grandfathers name or any other details present on your dads birth certificate? You might be able to trace him on ancestry.com or similar with some details.

DGRossetti · 15/12/2020 14:22

@onlythepianoplayer

if it is actually untraceable you can't get citizenship...you need to prove the link from an Irish grandparent to you, via birth and marriage certs. No certs, no passport.

Unfortunately I think Blair’s version of FOM was what landed us in this mess in the first place

WTF does that even mean?

It means the PP hasn't a clue WTF they are on about. Not a great look 4 years after the UK decided to leave the EU really. It rather gives the impression they didn't know what Brexit was about.
Oreservoir · 15/12/2020 14:22

@BeepBoopBop good. You sound very sensible. There are a lot of people moving over who haven't thought it through.

We live in the Dordogne, not my original plan as I fancied Provence or the Languedoc but it turns out I love the area.

Hope it all goes smoothly. The prefectures
are really being helpful towards the British.

Lepetitpiggy · 15/12/2020 14:25

@Sarahlou63

There's a big increase in people registering for residency here in Portugal. It's warm (most of the time!), the cost of living is relatively low and the people are friendly and welcoming. Post Brexit, the Portuguese govt. has pledged to remain close ties with the UK. Check out the Pure Portugal website for properties.
This has been our plan all along - when dd finishes A levels and I retire...not too long :D It doesn't seem too onerous - we've looked into it and feel we may be able to do it.
notimagain · 15/12/2020 14:38

No I meant him throwing the doors open without any form of checks that the people coming in had jobs or homes to go to or reasonable funds to get them going in the first place.

Errr..OK if that's the complaint, and not the simply early FOM from the accession states issue I mentioned not sure why you've singled out Mr Blair for a special mention....

DontStopThinkingAboutTomorrow · 15/12/2020 14:44

No I meant him throwing the doors open without any form of checks that the people coming in had jobs or homes to go to or reasonable funds to get them going in the first place. Not the first port of call being the housing office or which doorway to sleep in

Tories have been in office around 10 years. What legislation did they pass? Each EU county did actually have reasonable freedom to impose their own immigration laws, even on other EU citizens.

dreamingbohemian · 15/12/2020 14:53

Yes FOM is not unlimited. You must be working, looking for work, studying or otherwise supporting yourself. Otherwise you can be sent home. But it takes a lot of bureaucracy to track and the UK could never be bothered, the Tories neither.

Europilgrim · 15/12/2020 14:59

But it takes a lot of bureaucracy to track and the UK could never be bothered, the Tories neither.
This is where the British refusal to have id cards has somewhat backfired. I used FOM to move to Italy and had to register as a resident, show I had a job before I could get a GP, id card etc

DGRossetti · 15/12/2020 15:11

This is where the British refusal to have id cards has somewhat backfired.

It's wasn't ID cards per se that did it for ID cards. It was the scary huge database that had to go with it (unique in the world) that sealed it's fate.

A subsequent decade and a half of daily data breaches suggests that the public were spot on about that.

Europilgrim · 15/12/2020 15:15

I agree! But in general there is far less bureaucracy in the UK - no residency certificates etc I had to get loads to move to Italy which was a pita! On the plus side though there was some sort of system in place that meant that immigrants (such as myself) were monitored unlike in the UK.

UnshakenNeedsStirring · 15/12/2020 15:22

I cant even think of retiring , be good to plan it. I might go and find myself a job in Australia- friend lives there- to get away from the UK.

dreamingbohemian · 15/12/2020 15:34

Yes in Germany you have to register with the local town hall when you arrive (with documentation) and update your address every time you move. You have to show this registration document to do all sorts of things.

If the UK government were serious about cutting immigration they would start doing things like this. But they don't really care, they just use the issue to whip up their voters.

Havanananana · 15/12/2020 16:24

It's wasn't ID cards per se that did it for ID cards. It was the scary huge database that had to go with it (unique in the world) that sealed it's fate.

Why would it be unique in the world? Germany has over 83 million residents who are all on their database. In addition, anyone who has ever lived in the country remains on the database - I have recently moved to another country where I previously worked 15 years ago, and I can still use the same registration number as before for healthcare, income tax and residence registration.

As for UK databases - almost everyone in the UK is on multiple government databases. Instead of one number for everything as in most of Europe, British residents can have an NHS Number, a National Insurance number, an income tax UTR number, a Drivers' License number at the DVLA, a Passport number and a Government Gateway number - and yet there is still no central register that records who lives where.

Oliversmumsarmy · 15/12/2020 16:36

DGRossetti
I knew exactly what Brexit meant that is why I voted remain. It was the people I know from different areas of the country who voted leave and the reasons they gave I could understand why in their circumstances FOM, house prices, dearer holidays etc meant nothing to them and even now I can’t see how us leaving will have any affect on their lives.
They didn’t have anything before and still won’t have anything come 2021.

DGRossetti · 15/12/2020 16:39

The UK isn't Germany. And in the current climate you won't make many friends by pointing to other countries and pointing out how good they are at anything.

At the time, the "plan" was to put every single bit of possible data onto a single government database. Which was ludicrously ambitious, as well as technically novel. And it seemed every passing week threw up another thing the database could do.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_Cards_Act_2006

is a pretty good primer.

Changi · 15/12/2020 16:58

That said, to @tara66, I have the birth certificate of a ancestor born prior to 1916

How far can you go back? I have an Irish surname.

veeeeh · 15/12/2020 17:09

@Changi

That said, to @tara66, I have the birth certificate of a ancestor born prior to 1916

How far can you go back? I have an Irish surname.

www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/irish_citizenship/irish_citizenship_through_birth_or_descent.html#:~:text=Unless%20at%20least%20one%20parent,than%20your%20parents%20or%20grandparents).
KenDodd · 15/12/2020 17:31

Have any Leave voters been on to gloat yet about ruining people's retirement plans? Robbing us of our EU rights seems to be something they're particularly delighted about.