Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask - if you suddenly found you could apply for an EU passport, would you apply and would you move?

152 replies

Peasbewithyou · 28/12/2020 08:57

I am British but have found out that I am likely eligible for an EU (Italian) passport (due to Italian ancestry) and therefore my children will also be eligible.

Before BREXIT I hadn’t really thought about it but last night I was idly wondering whether I should actually apply for it and if we could move. I quite like the idea of a big adventure. I didn’t grow up in the UK and also loved abroad as a young adult. I loved living abroad as a kid. I learnt a new language (sadly not Italian) and I think got a bit of a different perspective on the world.

But of course as an adult with a mortgage and kids and a career it’s all a bit of a different kettle of fish! I suspect it will probably be much too difficult to contemplate!

So, I’m curious to hear what others would do!

YABU - no I would stay put
YANBU - Bye! I’m off as soon as the passport hits the doormat.

OP posts:
Fuzzyspringroll · 28/12/2020 13:40

I'm an EU citizen, DH is British and DS has dual nationality. I wouldn't have given up my EU passport, although DH is considering giving up his British one. We relocated to my home country two years ago and DH is quite happy to be out of the UK in the current climate. I do miss it and hope to move back at some point but agree that we are currently better off here. DS is in private school (bilingual), our house is much bigger than the one we had in the UK and we are both earning more money doing fewer hours. Medical cover is better than in the UK, although I didn't have an issue with the NHS, either.

Hoppinggreen · 28/12/2020 13:44

dreaming yes I know their nationality can’t expire, our concern is whether they will be able to keep Dual nationality.
The country they have dual nationality with only allows it with another EU nation, which we were when the passports were obtained but we won’t be when they expire

CharitySchmarity · 28/12/2020 13:46

I definitely would if I was on my own - I'd particularly love to live in Austria or Germany, as I know the language well and have friends in both places. DH would never do it though. He's a committed Remainer and wouldn't have any problem with it in theory but he doesn't speak any other languages well. The only other country he's ever suggested he'd quite like to live in is New Zealand!

DGRossetti · 28/12/2020 14:19

Be prepared for the wheels of Italian bureaucracy to turn slowly.

Plus (naturally) all correspondence to be in Italian.

You might find this site useful

www.tapatalk.com/groups/italiancitizenship/

I was born in the UK long before we joined the EEC, but my DF was insistent that my birth was registered as Italian as well as English. So June 2016 I found myself at the Consulate in Farringdon picking up my passport.

OoohTheStatsDontLie · 28/12/2020 14:31

I am married to an EU national, he still has his European passport and our children would be eligible so I think I would be as well (though might not be an easy process). I've been thinking more and more recently about leaving, things like the discussion of the death penalty on threads yesterday really make me worry about the future of this country. There are two things stopping me. Firstly my parents, I'm not sure I want to move away as they get older and need more help. And second the language. I have tried to learn it before and I know it would be a struggle. I think I'd need 6- 12 months before I could work and even then it wouldn't be in anything more than low skilled work. I am a qualified professional in an industry that doesn't easily transfer to other countries so I'd essentially be starting again. This would make me very dependent on my husband and I've seen enough threads on here from SAHMs that the situation would really worry me if he ever wanted to split

Dee1975 · 28/12/2020 14:43

What has made you now think you would live abroad just because you ‘can’ get an EU passport. Why didn’t you do it before (brexit) when you ‘could’ anyway. Why only now is it an option?
I can get an EU passport, but I won’t be bothering. My husband can’t. So will make no difference to us going through passport control!

Crankley · 28/12/2020 14:54

I have zero interest in an EU passport and even less in moving to an EU country. I voted Leave and it has been a long four year wait.

That doesn't mean I'm not European, of course I am, the UK hasn't been cast adrift from the Continental Shelf.

moremoormore · 28/12/2020 15:03

@Crankley

I have zero interest in an EU passport and even less in moving to an EU country. I voted Leave and it has been a long four year wait.

That doesn't mean I'm not European, of course I am, the UK hasn't been cast adrift from the Continental Shelf.

Ahh a facetious vote leave post.

How I have missed them...

ByersRd · 28/12/2020 15:58

@Dee1975
What has made you now think you would live abroad just because you ‘can’ get an EU passport. Why didn’t you do it before (brexit) when you ‘could’ anyway. Why only now is it an option?

I did and would like the freedom to do it again. I would also like my children to have the same choices.

EveryDayIsADuvetDay · 28/12/2020 16:11

My grandfather was Irish, but died many years ago, and I don't have access to his papers.
I made a rather lackadaisical enquiry back in 2016, but really can't be bothered to make the effort.

Costacoffeeplease · 28/12/2020 16:15

It’s quite easy to get copies if you have an idea of where and when he was born/married etc

Original poster
Peasbewithyou · 28/12/2020 18:28

Ah thanks @Hollybutnoivy good to know I don’t have to do the language test. I’m prepared for it to be a difficult process and am happy to learn the language but good that it’s not a requirement!

Thanks @DGRossetti that’s a very helpful link! I can imagine it’s a very bureaucratic process!

@Dee1975 - why did I not do it before? Well that’s a good question! As I said in my OP I lived abroad as a child (within EU) and again as a young adult (non-EU) and it was always my plan to move abroad again, I always wanted to but life and circumstances seemed to always get in the way. I never thought I would spend my whole adult life living in any one country although the UK will always be “home” and I don’t think I would move permanently necessarily.

I guess that BREXIT plus the whole COVID shitshow has made me realise that you just have to grab life by the balls and get on with it because you never know what’s around the corner. I also feel weird and sad that I now can’t just up and go to an EU country if I wanted to, and my kids won’t have the experience that I did. They can’t even go and study abroad as easily as I could. So if I can find a way to hang on to my “EU citizenship” and the benefits of that I will.

I suppose, at heart, it’s a fact of you don’t appreciate what you’ve got until it’s taken away!

OP posts:
NiceLegsShameAboutTheFace · 28/12/2020 18:31

No. And No.

I'm happy with a British passport and I definitely wouldn't want to live elsewhere in Europe.

SimonJT · 28/12/2020 18:36

No, but then my partner is a citizen of an EU country, so I could move there with him as we are in an established relationship (you don’t have to be married to be considered a spouse). When we have a child together he/she will be a citizen of both countries, so we will get them a passport for both countries as its handy to have.

SosYourFace · 28/12/2020 18:37

No. I love Britain and being British and feel incredibly lucky in the scheme of things to have been born here.

toodleloooo · 28/12/2020 19:18

It's an interesting one. I've got dual nationality with another EU country and have always held a passport for that country. When Brexit first happened DP and I looked at whether there was anything we could do to get him EU nationality too, and how it might work for our children in future. As part of that we mooted the idea of moving to my motherland.

In hindsight I think that was a bit of an emotional reaction to the vote. We'll still be able to go on holiday there/travel for business as we did before. It might make it a bit harder to live there as a family but we had never seriously contemplated that before the vote, anyway.

I'd get the passport in your shoes but I wouldn't necessarily expect it to change things dramatically for you, unless that was always brewing anyway. Might just make your path through Customs a bit smoother if you're travelling alone/with others from the EU!

VanillaAndOrange · 28/12/2020 19:21

My grandfather was born in Ireland but wasn't Irish (Army family). Out of curiosity, if I wanted to get an EU passport, would I be likely to on those grounds? Would my children? (It probably won't happen but it would be nice to know.)

MsTSwift · 28/12/2020 19:23

Wouldn’t actually move but at great personal cost we got German passports for dh and both teens. They may thank us one day!

mayday678 · 28/12/2020 19:58

@WanderingMilly

No I wouldn't. I'm not European and don't want to be, I'm English. However, if Scotland gained independence I might possibly consider emigrating there....
Ehhh??? How can you be British but not European? Confused lol The United Kingdom is in Europe. The European Union and the continent of Europe are 2 different things. There's 27 countries in the union but over 40+ in Europe lol. I'm wondering how many people voted Brexit thinking like this Grin

OP - I would most definitely apply for a passport even if just to keep your options open. Personally I would move tomorrow if I could ! If all goes well I will move to Spain or Portugal for some sun and beach in 3-5 years. If that's not possible due to work then I will go to Scandinavia

Crankley · 28/12/2020 20:49

moremoormore

What was facetious about my post?

I am a Leave voter.
I do not want an EU passport
I do not want to live in an EU country
Despite the above I am, of course, European which has nothing to be with the EU.

Mistigri · 28/12/2020 21:41

We obtained a second nationality for both kids in the immediate aftermath of the referendum.

For DH and I it will unfortunately take longer as we have to use the naturalisation route, but at least we have permanent residence rights under the Withdrawal Agreement.

I'd absolutely want a second passport for me or my kids if I had that opportunity and even if I wasn't planning to move immediately.

DeeCeeCherry · 28/12/2020 21:58

I can apply for a Portuguese passport. I likely will soon enough. I am planning to move, although not to Portugal. But then again I work from home/online and have family and friends there so I just might. I do like UK but the feel of it is different now. I don't want to live here anymore, just visit.

FloodedRoad · 29/12/2020 17:48

100% I would apply for an European passport and especially for my children.
I would love them to have the same opportunities I've had (living-working in Italy as part of my degree).

ragged · 29/12/2020 17:50

100% yes.