Brexit consequences

[LaChatte]

So there are a million threads in AIBU and Chat, but nothing here?

I stayed up all night watching the results, it was devastating, since then I've gone from heart-broken to angry to sad.

I've spent the day looking into getting French nationality, ironically I have to renew my expired British passport in order to do that. The amount of paperwork I'll have to do is unbelievable, not to mention the cost of getting various documents officially translated.

So pissed off about not being able to vote on something that affects me directly.

How is it affecting everyone one else here (living in the EU, I mean), maybe people living outside the EU could share their experiences of what hoops they had to jump through in order to live and work abroad?

How do you get a carte de séjour? I thought it was not possible.

We will struggle to prove 'integration' as we only live here for the cheaper property... kids go to school in Switzerland, DP works on Switzerland. Seriously screwed if they start kicking people out!

We did it without a carte de séjour. They won't issue them to EU citizens and for the moment that is what you are. Integration is one of the most important things we have heard of multiple case of people being turned down despite having the required income and language.

. Hope the British youth takes to the streets and hold their elders accountable for this senseless mess.

I'm in my mid sixties and voted to remain as did many people my age and older. We are not a single minded homogeneous mass.

Perhaps if more of 'the British youth' had exercised their right to vote the result may have been different.

#blamecameronnotyourgranny

Fellow European dwellers, am I being really stupid and missing something? We are UK passport holders but live in France. DH owns a French company which he runs here (big employer in the area). Are we going to be asked to leave?

Husband works in Vienna, I'm in England while our children finish school here. We were hoping to sell our house and for me to join him and live together in Vienna. Don't fancy selling in sterling/buying in Euros so much anymore! Plus, we were not planning on actually emigrating or retiring abroad, so if we did go, we might not be able to afford to return.

Does anyone know if there have been fewer refugees arriving on European shores since Thursday? If Brexit has helped prevent drownings, then it might be something good to come from it (though it won't have stopped the wars, or ISIS, just made it easier for ISIS to control people in other areas).

normastits5 - well said !!

LaChatte you should learn the Marseillaise, much cooler than dreary old God save the queen. Just imagine it's BoJo and Gove's impure blood watering the fields of France

I've been in Italy for over 20 years and both DH and DS are Italian so I can get citizenship. But.... I need a criminal record check for all counties I was resident in. That is going to be tricky for "long story" reasons. And having found my passport I have discovered it expired several years ago. Oops.

I have no idea how this is going to affect my industry (TEFL)

And I don't like it when the Italian financial/banking sector has a wobble. All too often it sets off panic alarms that this they will actually fall over and take all our savings with them.

Without parity of fees/access to loans DS cannot go to British uni. I have moments when my face gets wet about that bit. I've busted a gut since he was six years old to give him the best possible chance of making the most of that option. That's the bit that challenges my self imposed and slightly brittle calm.

We're in Belgium where dh works for a large international organisation with 28 nations (not the EU!). As he works for this particular organisation, we will have no problem remaining in Belgium post Brexit, as the rules are different. I will however get his employer to apply for renewal of my ID card.

He says the reaction at work has been interesting ranging from the aghast, to those who would also like the opportunity to vote on remaining in or leaving the EU.

Evening fellow European residents

How are you all faring with being asked about Brexit all the time or is it just me? Complete random in the chemist clocks on I'm British and asks me to explain my country's actions like I'm the bloody spokesperson for the UK! I had no idea I was a walking talking envoy Missed that memo.
DH wants to get a "I voted remain dammit" t shirt to wear to work. Having the same convo into triple figures now feels a bit like TPS reports in Office Space.

DH wants one of these:

www.themerchandisingshop.co.uk/shops/BritainStrongerInEurope/654/products/10713/detail.html

I'm in Brazil so no one is really that interested anymore. Although most people thought it was crazy and are worried about growing facism in Europe and the upcoming Trump card that the USA might play in this backwards race.

We had no problems coming here but DH is Brazilian. I think the bureaucracy makes it difficult for a lot of people. Unless you want to retire here as a fair number of Brits seem to, which I find odd, but there you go.

Have been asked about Brexit here in China.
Chinese see it as proof that democracy is not a good idea! Who knows what foolish things people will vote for? ;)

I'm Irish in France so technically fine but we are definitely thinking about starting the process for French nationality in case it all goes a bit mental. We've been here over 10 years and have no intention of going back to Ireland. I also was one of those pesky EU migrants in London for 10 years, paying tax and taking nothing out of the system. Wonder what happens my pension contributions now?

I am totally disenfranchised - as an Irish citizen, I lost my national vote once I emigrated and obviously have limited voting rights here so am at the mercy of others voting on my behalf which didn't seem so dangerous in the past.

I've had many people come up, incredulous, asking "what they were thinking". Our poor English neighbours are getting tired of being asked to explain why but we also know of UK homeowners here who voted out...We are close to the ski resorts and there are some towns around here that are practically anglophone - if the EHIC card goes and seasonaires are not entitled to work in France, it will have a big impact on many business models.

It is a total mess, no matter what they do and I guess UK citizens in the EU are going to be in limbo for quite some time. I am astounded at the incompetence from all sides in the UK - from offering a referendum in the first place, running a lack lustre remain campaign and now the clusterfuck of nobody wanting to take any responsibility for what is going on. I hope the EU stands firm on freedom of movement. I have worked across Europe doing everything from washing dishes to professional work, and while acknowledging that reform is desperately needed (along with a PR campaign..), the ability to work and make your home anywhere in Europe is a key part of the project. I would be really annoyed if they gave this up as it would be the end of the EU.

I'm in Oz and work in a very international work place (my team is Aussie, Kiwi, Irish, Chinese, English and Zulu!) Everyone has been talking about the Brexit, all of them incredulous at what has happened! I'Ve always told my son he was lucky to have three passports (UK, Irish and Aussie), after watching the Brexit fallout he is finally understanding how lucky he is! We got our Aussie visas as my husband was born here, his parents were 10 pounds poms, but they went back to Ireland when he was a little kid. So, we were lucky!

I'm a Brit, currently on short term relocation in Germany. But even when I move back to the UK I travel 3 nights a week for work.

And I'm f**ked if we loose freedom of movement. A major selling point in my industry for employing Brits has been that they speak english (a lot of the employers are american) but they are free to move around Europe.

While I'm unlikely to loose my job short term, they aren't going to be hiring anyone British for a while, why would they when they can hire Irish citizens instead and get the same benefits without mobility concerns. And if I need a new job I'm probably going to be limited to the UK, or a much bigger move to Canada, NZ, etc. which is going to be really hard with ageing parents to worry about. That means that my options are going to be limited, along with promotion opportunities etc.

I'm not sure how much longer the English speaking advantage is going to work. My European colleagues have excellent English and a better handle of grammar than a lot of native speakers.

Parents in my area of France are obsessed with their kids learning English as they know it pays dividends in the international job market.

Chinese see it as proof that democracy is not a good idea! Who knows what foolish things people will vote for? ;)

Well I do always say that a communist dictatorship has its upsides- we all moan about the government equally and none of us can be blamed as none of us voted for them.

I agree with Usually Dormant. My DD has an EU passport and is totally bilingual, as are a lot of other kids of mixed nationality couples. Also the level of spoken and written English (in terms of grammar and ability to express oneself coherently) of continental European graduates has exceeded that of British graduates for a few years now, plus they have another language to boot, which with the state of MFL in UK schools many British grads do not have. Therefore the attractiveness of employing people from the UK is already on the wane. With the right to work issue it will wane further.

usuallydormant, Izlet - which is why we are in Germany and my DDs are in German school/Kindergarten. I also speak German fluently (though I'm not to native speaker standard). But realistically, when a US firm moves into Europe, they have generally started in London. And language has been a big factor in that. I don't think that's going to automatically be the case anymore.

I think that English will continue for many years to be the language of business, but I think that people in the UK are deluded if they think that speaking English is going to be enough to get jobs. I have bilingual DDs, the elder 2 also speak a 3rd language the learning of which will carry on until into their 20s. Any international firm looking to have a presence in Europe will want people who can speak 2 or 3 languages. Hopefully the immigrants who have been in the UK a while will be able to take full advantage of this.

And yes kimmy everyone is asking us about the vote and why it happened. I just use the third person in the response - they have made a mistake - and avoid the use of we. Everyone knows we recently got our nationality so is happy for us to use the Gaelic shrug.

Agreed. Even when I was looking for work 20 years ago outside the UK, English alone wasn't sufficient, I needed to speak the local language fluently plus another Europen language to get anything vaguely on a managerial level.

I use they as well. Nothing to do with me as I wasn't eligible to vote anymore. I'm quite shocked at how annoyed I am at the whole thing, I thought it wouldn't affect me so much as I am a dual national but it has royally pissed me off. Not least because it's affecting a lot of my friends in the UK in ways I didn't imagine at the time. So no, Normastits, it's not for me who has "buggered off" but for people I know and work with now resident in the UK.
For a PP, I have claimed my UK pension, there's a form you fill in which you take to your local social security office so they can claim back from the UK and they will either add it onto your local pension or pay you a lump sum. You need to ask IFA, ideally someone with international experience who will procure you the correct form and what to explain to the local pensions office, who if in a small place, might not be aware.

I agree FrenchFancy - we were trying (really hard) to think up positives about it all at dinner. Being a truly bilingual English/other European language person will surely become an absoute rarity and very few UK born familes will be able to bring up children
elsewhere as we have done. DS1 is doing well enough in French & Spanish but in light of the college reforms we've gone for a Spanish language course for the summer rather than the usual prep books for next year!