From work permits to healthcare, pensions to tax, EU citizens in UK and Britons in Europe worry they could be in a precarious position after 2016’s referendum

Thousands of people – continental Europeans in Britain as well as UK citizens abroad – are so alarmed at the potential impact of a British exit from the European Union on their lives that they are applying for a second passport, Guardian research suggests.

A Guardian website survey received more than 1,200 responses from European citizens, a large majority of whom were in the process of changing nationality or citizenship, or considering doing so. Many expressed concern that without dual nationality, an “out” vote in Britain’s membership referendum could make life as an EU citizen in the UK, or as a UK citizen in the EU, far more problematic.



Even the most cautious extrapolation from the survey would suggest that many thousands of Europeans are taking similar action.



“The worst is the uncertainty,” said Stephanie Zihms, a German national from near Bremen, who lives in Edinburgh.

I remember writing to a friend: if Ukip ever gets into power, I could be in trouble … But now it’s really not very funny

“Everyone talks about Brexit in big-picture economic or political terms; no one considers what it might mean personally, to so many people,” said Zihms, a post-doctoral academic. “My life is here now. Would I need a visa to visit my family? A minimum number of points to be able to work? No one can say.”

Chief among EU migrants’ worries in the event of “Brexit” are the end of fast-track EU-only lines at passport control; the return of work permits for employees; the abandonment of reciprocal public healthcare arrangements; tighter restrictions on studying and doing business; possible higher taxes on foreign property ownership and cash transfers between member states; and the treatment of foreign pensions.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest German national Stephanie Zihms expects to take the Life in the UK test soon.

In fact, the practical consequences of a Brexit for the approximately 2.4 million EU citizens in Britain and nearly 2 million Britons estimated to be living on the continent are not yet clear. An eventual exit process, which would involve unpicking decades of legislation and regulation, would probably take years to negotiate. But few seem ready to leave anything to chance.

Naturalisation on rise

According to government figures, naturalisations of EU citizens – including those from countries in eastern Europe that joined the union in 2004 – have been climbing sharply in recent years, from more than 10,000 in 2009 to just over 18,000 in 2013.

Zihms, who came to Britain as a student in 2005 and has been with her British boyfriend for nine years, aims to add her name to that total later this year. She ordered the official handbook for the Life in the UK test from the Home Office website after the Conservative election victory last month, once it was clear Britain would hold an in/out referendum on EU membership before the end of 2017.

“Until then, I was kind of joking about it,” she said. “I remember writing to a friend: if Ukip ever gets into power, I could be in trouble … But now it’s really not very funny. I’ll be taking the test as soon as I’m ready, and applying for citizenship, hopefully in September.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fabrizio Fazzino will be eligible to apply for UK citizenship next year.

Compared with the process in other EU states, acquiring UK citizenship is a costly business. Fabrizio Fazzino, a 44-year-old electronic engineer from Sicily who moved to Bristol with his wife and two children, now nine and six, at the end of 2010, said he had already passed his Life in the UK test and would be eligible to apply for citizenship late next year – a process that will cost him and his family more than £3,500.

“I can’t imagine we’d actually be kicked out,” he said. “This is ‘just in case’. But I see colleagues from India and other non-EU countries – the hassle they have getting and renewing their skilled migrant visas … I wouldn’t want us to have to go through that. We’re happy here. I’m counting the days till I can invest four grand in four shiny new passports.”

Some feel they have little choice. Bart Szydlowski, 28, a Polish multimedia engineer who came to Britain to study nine years ago, is worried that without at least permanent resident status, which he will apply for as soon as he is eligible next year, he would no longer be sure of being able to work.

“But the problem is, I’m not sure I could go back very easily either,” he said. “I have lived all my adult life here. My professional skills may be transferable in theory, but I don’t know I could find a job using them in Poland – not one that would give me the standard of living I have here.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bart Szydlowski, from Poland, has a British girlfriend but wouldn’t want to be pressurised into marriage in order to stay in the UK. Photograph: Bart Szydlowski

Szydlowski said he had discussed with his long-term British girlfriend the option of acquiring UK citizenship through marriage. “It’s a possibility, of course,” he said. “Certainly if it came to getting kicked out of the country … But that kind of pressure isn’t a good reason to get married. It’s something we’d rather do off our own bat.”

A pragmatic man from a country that entertains some of the same misgivings about Brussels as many in Britain, Szydlowski said he understood why the UK government felt it needed to hold a referendum: “You’re looking after your interests,” he said. “You can’t just ignore what people think.”

Convinced Europhiles, though, are not so certain.

“It is all a bit alienating,” said Victoria Pinoncely, 27, a French national who stayed on in London after her master’s degree, works in planning, and is applying for permanent UK residency “for at least a bit of security”. She then has to wait a year before seeking dual nationality.

“The EU isn’t perfect, but I do believe in the European project: I did Erasmus [an EU student exchange programme], I moved here – no paperwork, no fuss, just an NI number. And Europe’s about peace, understanding between peoples. Long term, I’m not sure how I’d feel about living in a country that turned its back on that. I do feel resentful, a bit. Like maybe I backed the wrong horse.”

It is not just EU migrants to Britain who feel resentment. Richard Reed, 35, a British educationalist living here with his German partner – also in education – said the “horribly inward-looking nature, the lack of openness, of real engagement” of the British debate around the EU depressed him.

Long term, I’m not sure how I’d feel about living in a country that turned its back on Europe

British nationals on the continent are no less concerned. In France, retired civil servant Wendy Joint said her membership of the French health service “is dependent, under EU agreements, on my continuing to receive a UK state pension. If Britain comes out of the EU, it will have to negotiate reciprocal agreements with France and other EU countries with regard to health cover for UK citizens … It is an uncertainty.”

In Germany, Rebecca Syme, an editor, said simply that post-Brexit, it seemed to her that “remaining here might become quite complicated. For that reason, but also so that I can vote here, I’ve applied for German citizenship. My husband, who’s also British, will do the same next year – you have to be here for at least eight years to apply.”

Several British respondents said that thanks to a grandparent’s origins, they had begun the process of applying for an Irish passport. And almost all who have lived outside the UK for longer than 15 years expressed a quiet fury at not being allowed to vote in a referendum that could have a direct, and potentially profound, impact on their lives.



In Spain, Georgina Hodgson summed up the personal concerns of many migrants: “My entire life has been based in Spain since I moved here at the age of 18,” she said. “I have a career, a home and a partner here with whom I wish to stay. I enjoy being able to travel through Europe without a visa. Britain leaving the EU would be a disaster.”

And of the deeper questions a Brexit would pose, Josie Silva, a young British student teacher who will be returning to her job at a school in Germany next year after finishing her qualifying period in the UK, echoed the feelings of many when she said she would not think twice about seeking dual nationality.

If the UK leaves, I worry it’ll push us over the precipice of xenophobia on which we have been teetering

“I want to be part of the global community and the open, outward vision the EU has,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a perfect example of democracy, or even of economic stability, but the principles it represents for the common man are very important. If the UK leaves the EU, I worry it’ll finally push our country over the precipice of xenophobia and isolation on which we have been teetering for the past few years.”



What they said ...

Tine Juhlert is a Dane who has lived in the UK for 20 years – but is only now applying for British citizenship.

“To all intents and purposes, I am a British citizen,” she said. “I pay my taxes, I have a mortgage. This is my home. But alarm bells did start ringing when Ukip started to do so well … And I got a real shock when a very close friend from Canada was simply told to pack his bags the day after he’d completed his PhD.”

So Juhlert is applying for a British passport. “It doesn’t feel great, to be honest,” she said. “Paying all that money to join a club you’re already a member of, that you enjoy all the benefits of, and that feels like it’s not super-keen to have you. I thought I’d already done all I had to do, but no.”

My work is funded by a generous EU grant, which I’ll have to renew when it runs out in three years

But the alternative might turn out to be “a right nuisance … visas, permits, healthcare when we – especially my unbelievably accident-prone husband – go back and visit my family. Not that the EU’s perfect: there’s lots could be reformed. Be nice to see that mammoth building in Brussels run for something other than its own benefit. But I do believe we’re better together. So yes, I’m worried about a no vote.”

Samuel Schwarzkopf, a neuroscientist at University College London, has thought often about applying for British nationality since he first came here in 1999 – but held off because until recently Germany did not allow dual citizenship.

“Now they do – for countries that are members of the EU,” he said. “So I’ll have to make sure I do it before the referendum happens. But my main feeling right now is just … confusion. Nobody knows what will change.”

Sam Schwarzkopf, a German neuroscientist living in London, is confused about what changes Brexit might bring.

Personally, Schwarzkopf said, he was not overly worried: “I’m married, you get permanent resident status after five years … I can’t think they’d kick me out. But professionally, that’s another story. My work is funded by a generous EU grant, which I’ll have to renew when it runs out in three years. What happens to that if there’s a Brexit?”

Besides his own research programme, many others would suffer, said Schwarzkopf. “UK research funding has flatlined; EU support is still strong. And the people … Exchanging people is just so easy right now. I have great students, post-docs, research assistants, from all over – but only because they’re EU.”

“Citizenship would make me feel more integrated. Strengthen the sense of belonging. But … I don’t know. If Britain really does leave – that might well change my outlook. I might, actually, just go somewhere else.”