The number of Britons becoming citizens of another European Union country more than doubled in 2016, the year the UK voted to leave the bloc, official figures show.

Following the EU referendum, many Britons are thought to have applied for citizenship of other bloc members to be sure they will still have the right to travel and work freely in the remaining 27 states.

The data from Eurostat shows that 6,555 of British nationals acquired citizenship in other member states, up 165% from 2,478 in 2015.

The figures shows that Britons becoming nationals of other EU states has become a steadily rising trend in over the past decade, with the 2016 figure more than four times higher than in 2007.

Germany was the biggest recipient in 2016, with 2,702 Britons taking citizenship there – more than four times the 2015 figure of 594. Belgium, where thousands of Britons hold jobs in Brussels that may depend on their being EU citizens, granted passports to 506 of them in 2016, four times as many as in 2015.

Anti-Brexit campaign group Best for Britain said the government should be “ashamed that people feel they have no option but to give up their citizenship or apply to be a dual national”.

“These people are giving up part of their identity to try and secure their future,” the group’s spokesman Paul Butters said.

The figures from Eurostat came as ant-Brexit campaigners claimed that more than 120 questions about the future rights of EU citizens in the UK remain unanswered by the government.

Grassroot activists at the3million group have sent the list to the Home Office ahead of a meeting next week with the immigration minister Caroline Nokes.

The campaigners, who are lobbying for all social and employment rights to be extended beyond Brexit, accused ministers of failing to provide detail even though they are planning to start registering EU citizens for a new immigration status from September.



“The list of questions shows the huge gap between the claim that citizens’ rights are done and dusted and the reality for EU citizens still waiting for answers, 655 days after the Brexit referendum,” said the3million co founder Nicolas Hatton.



“Let’s say you have lived in the UK for 30 or 40 years, have lost all contact with family and friends in your home country and your application is rejected. Where do you go to start your appeal? What do you do? Where on God’s earth do you go?” one Italian national, who preferred not to be named in the UK, said.

They also want answers on children’s rights, communications plans and protection from the hostile environment policy the Home Office operates for migrants it wants to deport.

The hostile environment involves a lockdown of benefits for the migrant deemed to be unlawfully living in the UK. This can include the freezing of bank accounts, cancellation of driving licences, child benefit, the ending of employment contracts and eviction from rental property.

They also want to know what protections are planned for EU citizens in the event of Home Office errors. Last year, the government was forced to apologise after mistakenly sending out deportation letters to around 100 EU citizens.

“It is crucial for all 128 questions to be answered so we can have confidence in the government’s application scheme,” said Hatton.



The Home Office said it met EU citizens’ groups monthly and it believes “this has provided reassurance” to them about their future.

“We will be setting out further details before the summer and EU citizens will have plenty of time to make an application – once the scheme launches at the end of the year they will be able to apply up until June 2021,” it added.”