Have you/ your family discussed any potential post-Brexit 'Plan Bs'?

[Quandry]

It's hard to predict what might happen over the next couple of years, so over the last month we've been thiking about the best way to keep our options open, and we've done the following:

• investigated family heritage for European links. DH's Polish background is too far back, but my Scottish grandfather would likely make me eligible for dual Scottish Nationality in the event of Scotland gaining independence.

-researched our potential eligibility to move to/work/retire in Canada, New Zealand, Australia

• investigated buying small properties in Scotland or France

Several of our friends in dual nationality families have been applied for EU passports for their babies/children.

Has anyone else been making any plans?

bread I have no intention of leaving the UK for Germany or any other EU country that my German passport will open up. But it's a valuable thing to have in my back pocket. I have no plans to leave London and have a very happy life here. But an EU passport is a useful plan B, or indeed a plan A should circumstances change that would mean a job opportunity or otherwise. All our paperwork went off to the German consulate but know they are facing a deluge of applications from people such as you and I doing the same post referendum

A child born to an Irish citizen parent in the UK will be British at birth.
does that work in practice when people try to claim it? or is it a bit like the surrender singh thing: fine on paper, but never upheld by home office?

Thanks Yuck, I hadn't even heard of the EEA(PR) will get it sent off for DH and I.
I do think there will have to be some sort of special arrangement with Ireland, but I don't know what it will be. I'm uncomfortable going for naturalistion. I don't know why, but it feels too much like a personal insult. If things have gotten that bad then we'll move.

We're only renting at the moment, I don't want to waste another two/three+ years renting and waiting to see how this mess gets straightened out when we can spend less on our mortgage and at least have that security.

For those who are applying for dual citizenships, do you have active connections and language skills for the countries in question?

I speak advanced French and am speeding up my learning of the language. I'm also working on improving my (currently intermediate) Italian. DH doesn't speak any other language though, and this would be a problem. I can't see him staring now.

Do you mean claim it as in obtain a passport? As far as I know you just send the form off and provide evidence of your parent's settled status in the same way as you do if they have ILR any other way. I know a few people who have two Irish parents and a British passport, and who were born after the law changed to stop citizenship being automatic on birth in the UK. So I presume that's how they got them. And Surinder Singh works in practice too, there are thousands of people who've used it. It's just increasingly difficult to prove!

For the comment about children having dual citizenship, my understanding that this is possible was based on this:
'I am a British citizen whose parents were born in Ireland. If I apply for an Irish passport, will I have to give up my British citizenship?

No. If you are an Irish citizen, you may hold dual citizenship, that is, citizenship of another country. British citizens are also allowed to hold dual citizenship. This means that you do not have to renounce your British citizenship when you apply for an Irish passport.'
Taken from here: www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/irish_citizenship/who_can_become_an_irish_citizen.html

I assumed, rightly or wrongly, that I will be able to apply on behalf of dc. I haven't studied it too closely as I'm not preggo at the moment and don't intend to be in the next year and god knows everything can change in the next two years.

And Surinder Singh works in practice too, there are thousands of people who've used it. It's just increasingly difficult to prove! there was a thread on here about how more recent Surrender Singh applications were all being turned down with one line about how they didn't believe settlement was due to genuine ties or something like that, even for people who had reems of genuine evidence and family ties etc.

They get won at appeal though.

For those who are applying for dual citizenships, do you have active connections and language skills for the countries in question?

I do have dual citizenship and DH was actively encouraged by embassy staff to apply "to unify the family", so I booked him onto a language course. In fairness embassy staff said: "We do not expect you to recite poems. You fail, you apply again." But in most European languages formal language can be a minefield, so a lot depends on the examiner.

Yes NotAMammy both Ireland and Britain allow dual citizenship (for now and forseeable future), I was just wondering where the British part would come from if you're both Irish (as British nationality is not by birth in Britain but by parents nationality) but Hyacinth said your nationality should work for that

Not sure how it works but my nephews, born in the U.K. In the last 5 years Of ROI parents who have only Irish passports, have British passports. My brother claims it was easier and quicker to get this than apply for Irish ones...

Oh that's good usuallydormant

I thought Irish passports were cheaper though? you don't have check and send but otherwise not a long process (not if the child's parents are Irish, longer if its through a grandparent and they have to register first)

I am becoming very aware of how little research I've done.

Excuse me while I crawl back under a rock for a while. It's safe here.

Fruitbox in our case (germany) we didn't apply for the citizenship just the passports as under german nationality law both dh and dd were considered german from the moment they were born unless they renounced the citizenship even if they didn't actively use the citizenship IYSWIM. No we don't have particularly strong links with Germany. Dh left as a young child over 30 years ago. We have no family there anymore. Dh speaks reasonable german. Dd (4 years old) knows the odd word. But we're very grateful that we are able to hold a second passport, mainly for dd's sake to give her more options in the future.

Both my dd are Irish even though they were born in the UK as dh is Irish. It's very quick to get an Irish passport and very easy. Dd1 is dual Australian and I have to pull my finger out to get dd2 Australian citizenship also.

Living as an expat here in Ireland u can only say that they welcome alll. They spent 800years occupied by the English but never have a bad word to say about them. My eyes opened when I visited a very old house in the mountains down in the South. I was showed an old wall behind a house where during the war if Independence they had to shoot a black and Tan . They still said a prayer every time they passed.

DP, DD and I have multiple citizenships between us; only DD has UK citizenship tho DP and I could if we wanted (we don't).

We're leaving the country and taking our two highly-paid jobs with us.

Reply to Ylvamoon (for a post a long way back...)

I'd hardly say keeping your options open was a cowardly thing to do - rather the sensible choice surely?
We're by no means packing our bags and saying 'will the last one out please to switch the lights off' but we're just discussing alternative scenarios and possibilities.
I love(d?) Britain - I was born here and I also thought I'd die here, but I'm disgusted by the attitudes that are now being openly expressed, unchallenged, in the media and on the streets.
I used to think Britain was an educated, intelligent, progressive society but we seem to be going backwards. I genuinely feel that we will descend into mob rule if we're not careful.

As others have already pointed out, applying for dual citizenship usually means retaining a British passport and the associated rights, not relinquishing it.

There's no point waiting until things get really bad, and then finding that deadlines for residency or passport applications have suddenly passed or entitlement restricted.
I want my teenage children to have as many of the options in Europe as I did - to study/ work/travel - and I will do anything in my power to extend those options for them. As my 17 year-old keeps reminding me, Brexit is absolutely not what his generation wanted.

I think our family has quite a European/International outlook. DH & I both worked for Anglo/Dutch companies for many years and regularly hopped around Europe for work and meetings. I also lived/worked in Montreal for 3 years. I speak French and a bit of German.

I used to think Britain was an educated, intelligent, progressive society but we seem to be going backwards.

Germany was a well educated nation at the beginning of the 20th Century, with probably the leading Universities. Education did not save them from their descent into fascism. We, however, do have the benefit of being able to learn from history.

It seems sensible to apply for another passport if you can. I speak Spanish, but I doubt whether Spain wants any more British pensioners right now, even though I am a young pensioner and could still work. So I think I have been scuppered.

Not quite scuppered yet peregrina. You still have your freedom of movement rights and will do for at least another two years plus however long it takes for Article 50 actually to be triggered. Even if transitional arrangements for people currently residing in another member state under the EU Treaty aren't made during negotiations, there are enough British immigrants in Spain to be a useful voting bloc to court.

Spain doesn't allow dual nationality though perigrina. My son has lived there over twenty years and has a Spanish wife and Spanish children. He would find it hard to get a permit to work in his field without being in the EU so will have to take Spanish nationality. We have been in France for eleven years, but have not done anything about dual nationality yet. We should have no problem with maintaining residence under existing French law (more than five years stable residence). The fall in value of the pound is our biggest worry.