Fellow Brits living in the EU, what prep have you done?

[TorchesTorches]

I live in the EU with my husband (and kids) in his native country. I only have a British passport. So far, since the referendum I have :

1. Learned the country's language!
2. Taken (and passed) the language exams required as part of the citizenship process
3. Intend to put in an application for citizenship when i have all the papers (should be in the next week)... but this takes up to a year to process...
4. Renewed my kids British passports so that they have both British and EU (can have this till 18) for the next few years at least.
5. Changed my UK drivers licence for an EU one.
6. Got a job! (Was a SAHM, but think I will have better protection via a company, but also the timing was right, so not 100% Brexit related, more like about 25% Brexit related.

What am i missing!? I am vaguely aware I should do something about uk pensions (worked in the UK for 20 years). But no idea what!

Any other thoughts on what prep can be done!?

I have applied for citizenship, still waiting 10 months after I applied , and that’s about it. We don’t have a lot of Sterling in our uk account, pensions we can’t do much about although my husband has started to draw his private pension down.

The UK gov has been issuing notices about what people should do, available on gov.uk website.
France has issues a plan which was reported in the 'Connexions' newspaper (available online partly for free) taken from a meeting with the interior minister. The EU has said it will make registering and staying as easy as possible, but that is at the top level so may take a while for it to percolate into individual countries.
being registered for tax, driving licence check you are on documents about home renting/ownership, basically everything you can think of to show you are where you are and mean to stay. On the Westminsterenders threads there are folk from France (a couple of others and myself), Belgium and Germany.
Although I have not looked the EU website will have useful stuff on it.

We have had our French driving licences for years and have "titre de séjour permanent" cards. We are wholly dependent on UK pensions so have lost significant income since the vote. We have all our finances on spreadsheets so we can monitor and adjust our outgoings accordingly; we can model down to £/€ parity and beyond. We speak the language, I have served as a local councillor and teach English for the U3A.
I will stock up on creamed horseradish and Brinjal chutney.
We take lots of wine for DD when we go to the UK.
Think that's it.

I’ve not done anything yet but will be applying for my childrens British passports when ‘home’ over Christmas.
As soon as I am back I will be exchanging my driving license, applying for my CDS and then will start the process of obtaining my citizenship.

I’m confident it won’t massively affect me but who knows.
The only thing that plays on my mind is that moving back may no longer be possible (French husband).
I have no plans to move back to the UK but having that option taken away grates slightly.

Unless I am horribly wrong, all things will be possible in future but the paperwork to move from one country to another may get rather more involved as opposed to now when for most things you can literally drive over with a brief wave of a passport.
The French notification said that it will allow a 9 month 'getting sorted out' period which would take it to December 2019, for a 'no deal' and I presume longer for a transition period. It would be such a relief to have the rights 'in the bag' and signed off now as the continued messing around is stopping anyone from actually knowing anything.

Decided to stay long enough to get EU passports for all my DC. Originally I had a loose plan to return to London 2021 but now I'm staying!

Nothing as I have all my residence paperwork and have a job. I'm not worried judging by what I have heard so far. I think the problems will arise for people wanting to move after Brexit. I think we will be allowed to carry on as we are.

Thank you for commenting on passports. I have a UK passport valid for a few more years and an appointment to get a Carte de Sejour in February, should I be organising an EU passport and if so how do I go about it in France? Do I just ask about it when I go for the Carte appointment?

Kids now have French passports. I should probably renew DS's expired UK passport although I begrudge giving a single penny to what passes for government in the disunited kingdom.

DH and I still need to renew our ancient cartes de séjour.

Still need to sort out carte de sejours but am waiting to apply all together in Feb when my eldest turns 18 (and hopefully by then we know more about what we will actually need after March 29th). She will also start the process for French nationality then too. Have already sorted out French nationality and id cards for my youngest who was born here. Other than that nothing else in term of preparations apart from planning to be at home in France at the end of March...

Husband applied for and received his Irish passport so he's covered.
I applied for citizenship in August. That will take about a year.

frozentree
Unless you know it is a 'fast' process to get a carte de sejour where you are (Paris area is quite quick possibly) but my neighbours and I had to go to an initial meeting (no appointment needed) where they just check passport then allocate a proper appointment around 4 months later.
If this is the situation where you are you could possibly organise your eldest's appointment for the same time. In theory there should be 9 months' grace' but what the French government say and what happens in practice might be different.

I've applied for citizenship (but it could take 4 years!) Got UK passports for kids. Still need to do driving licence - hope I haven't left it too late!

I have held an irish passport for years so i shall hang on to it though i can also lay claim to UK citizenship but have no desire to. I live in the UK so best of both worlds i guess ,,

Thanks 1tisILeClerc - we're in outer Ile de France so not Paris and I've already been to the sous prefecture who were very nice but not hugely enthusiastic about why we needed to do it now - but I need to get everything together and will brave another visit in January to see if we can get a rendezvous sorted. Back in October there were none available till February so I think we are probably looking at a date after April/May at the earliest.

Would like to know what other Brits in Germany have done, because i havent done anything except stock up on English books and sauces . . .
Am assuming there will be a blanket conversion of EU Right to Remain, for British people?

Are you in Spain, OP?

It turns out I'm entitled to an Irish passport so I got that last year. Before that I applied for Spanish citizenship (2 years ago) but I'm not even in the system yet, who knows when it'll come through.

I changed my UK driving licence to a Spanish one and I've been wondering how to get my NI contributions in the UK (about 3 years worth I think) accepted in Spain, but no idea how to do that.

I was already working and spoke the langauge and registered as a resident and all that.

I got the DC their Spanish ID and passports, but have let their UK passports lapse as I don't really see the point any more to be honest, they are more Spanish than anything. If they wanted another passport I'd rather get them irish ones, although for them the process would be longer than for me.

frozentree
From the report in the Connexion newspaper (and I presume in French if you are a French speaker!) there is a possibility that with a no deal decision by the UK that Carte de Sejours may need changing later in the year, but that as things are still unknown and not yet critical new guidance or forms may become available in the New Year, which could save doing it twice I suppose.

Harebellmeadow
{Am assuming there will be a blanket conversion of EU Right to Remain, for British people}
I wouldn't want to assume anything, as the situation is fluid so I would suggest getting onto the German or EU Emailing list so you get notifications.

My DH is a Brit and so far, is one exam away from having the language diploma for highly skilled professionals (reading, writing, listening, speaking, it's been a longggg process), he is then applying to take on local nationality and get EU passport. We're changing over our UK driving licences next week and have applied for UK passport for our DD. Luckily, my DH will have been resident in my country for 5 years when Brexit comes through and we've been married for 10, so he's already has earned right to stay. Still, we are being cautious and getting all paperwork done, just in case it all goes pearshaped.

LeClerc - where do I find this list please? Sorry for the silly question.

Hi Harebell
I had this a week or so ago but I think if you go on the EU website you should be able to root around and find German specific info.
Poster BigChocFrenzy on the Westminsterenders threads lives in Germany and might be prepared to give you a pointer to find info.

[https://www.gov.uk/government/news/information-and-events-for-british-citizens-in-germany?utm_source=702cf804-e6ff-46e3-8207-d4eefa10c818&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate]

Good luck

Thanks LeClerc

Little German update: www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/dec/22/uk-nationals-in-berlin-given-assurance-of-residency-in-event-of-no-brexit-deal
From the article: He told them it would take eight weeks for the immigration office in Berlin to issue residence permits and that it would not be possible before 29 March, but he reassured Britons in the audience that the city had an “excellent, flexible team which coped with the refugee crisis two years ago”.
He told them that Britons would be able to register their personal details on an official website by the second week of January, to help establish that they have a continued right to live and work in the state in the event of no deal.

So this is what it has come to. A conparison with refugee status!
I wonder if dual nationality would still be possible?

there is a possibility that with a no deal decision by the UK that Carte de Sejours may need changing later in the year

My understanding is that it is confirmed that if there is no deal, cartes de séjours will need changing. I may not bother renewing mine now, I'll just apply for a non-EU card as soon as I can.