If Brexit ends in no deal, many British people who live in the EU will become foreigners overnight – “third-country nationals” in legal language.

There is no EU equivalent of settled status for the 1.3 million British citizens in EU27 countries, although the European commission has urged EU governments to “take a generous approach” to securing their rights in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Many countries have announced plans to guarantee British nationals’ residence rights in the event of the UK crashing out. But questions would remain about qualifications, pensions and long-term status.

For many Britons in the EU27, this is why the prospect of no deal is deeply worrying, adding to a sense of anger and frustration that they have been forgotten.

Jacqui and Adrian Brown

‘It just seems that we don’t count’

Jacqui Brown, 48, who has lived in a village in western France with her family since 2004, has been losing sleep over a possible no-deal Brexit.

She and her husband, Adrian, 49, run an IT services company, with him running training courses around Europe. If Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal, she fears the family income will be hit.

“The things that worry me most in the small hours of the night is Adrian’s ability to move easily and cheaply between home in France, the UK and wherever the client wants him to go to work. If travel becomes more difficult, less frequent, more expensive that eats into our profits.”

She worries the French authorities will in future require the family to have a minimum income to operate their French-limited company, as non-EU nationals. “My worry is always as third-country nationals, we will have to have ‘x’ amount of money to fit in with the rules that are there. And Brexit has already compromised our earnings because of the sharp fall in our exchange rate.”

Deal or no deal, she says her life is going to change. Currently serving as a local councillor in her village, she will no longer be eligible to stand in elections after Brexit. “For the last three years, I have been angry, upset; you feel betrayed by the UK,” she says. “It just seems that we don’t count.”

The Dobson family

‘Our children feel abandoned’

Kathryn, 51, and Jon Dobson, 57, have lived in the Poitou-Charentes region of west France, with their three daughters, Jennifer, 22, Emily, 20, and Sarah, 18, since 2003. The Dobsons publish an English language magazine called Living Magazine.

Kathryn says her primary concern over a hard Brexit is for her daughters who are now in limbo because of the prospect of freedom of movement ending. They have lived most of their lives in France, but may not qualify for French citizenship or residency cards because they have no salaried jobs or insufficient incomes. They are also worried about studying or working abroad in case they are not allowed to return to reside in France with their parents.

“When we came to France we thought the one thing we could give our children that money couldn’t buy was a second language and that inspired us to move to an EU country. We thought our children would benefit the UK and we didn’t even think about changing our nationality,” Kathryn says.

“Our children who should be enjoying the most mobile years of their lives are in limbo. Like many 15-20-year-olds [in this situation], they are trapped. They are not able to spread their wings as they should at their age.

““They feel abandoned by their own country while at the same time they cannot get citizenship in the country in which they have spent most of their lives.”

‘The feeling of uncertainty is huge’

Jane Golding, a Berlin-based lawyer, says British people in Germany are feeling “a certain amount of relief” after the German government published legislation enabling them to stay in the country. “We still have to go through the details with a fine-tooth comb, but certainly for those who’ve already been here for five years or more, it is looking pretty good,” says Golding, who is co-chair of the British in Europe campaign group.

“The feeling of uncertainty is huge. We’ve been there before – a looming date [29 March]. Now we’re going through another phase that feels like it’s leading to a cliff edge and many people, whose families and livelihoods are here, are finding it really hard to cope.”

Sara Gordon

‘Everything is insecure’

Sara Gordon, a teacher in Berlin, describes herself as “one of the lucky ones”. She now has a permanent right to live and continue her job as a teacher of 9-12 year olds in a German school. But she has friends who are still waiting to hear about their status. “There are many people who are still in limbo and everything is insecure. They don’t know if they will be able to continue to stay and work here.”

Like many long-term British nationals outside the UK, she was unable to vote in the 2016 EU referendum. Her letters to MPs went unanswered and she feels Britons in the EU are being ignored.

Above all, she is saddened for her family and the next generation, who will not have the same opportunities to study, live, work or retire in the EU. Freedom of movement, she says, is “a beautiful dream full of opportunity and that is being destroyed by a government that seems to have forgotten thousands of citizens who live and work and study in Europe”.

Joanna Newman

‘No one knows what’s happening’

Joanna Newman, 54, has lived in Barcelona for 29 years. Her two children, now grown up, were born in Spain but are British citizens, as being born in Spain does not confer citizenship unless at least one parent is Spanish. She also has a one-year-old grandson.

“I’m really worried about no deal, most of all for my kids, because they won’t have the choices to work and study they had under free movement. The scariest thing is no one knows what’s happening or what, if anything, we should do. I don’t want to apply for Spanish citizenship because I feel British, despite living here for 29 years. But I will if I have to.”