Anna Amato has been denied the right to live in the UK after Brexit despite living here for 55 years and raising her British family (Picture: Reuters)

A mum who moved to the UK with her family when she was just two years old has been refused permanent residency in the UK.

Anna Amato has lived in Bristol for 55 years after emigrating with her parents Mario and Chiara from Italy.

The now 57-year-old attended school and university in Britain and she estimates she has paid over £500,000 in tax during her four decades of working.

Despite marrying a British husband, Connell, and having two British children, Anna said she now feels that she is not welcome in her homeland.


The Home Office has told her she did not provide enough evidence to document her status – even though Anna’s documents were so heavy they cost £35 to post.



The devastated mum said: ‘You are in your country, it is a democracy, all of a sudden you are told after this time no one knows what is going to happen to you.

‘Where do I go? It is really, really scary.’

Anna Amato sits next to a photograph of her parents Mario and Chiara at her home in Bristol (Picture: Reuters)

Anna’s legal limbo is not an isolated case as EU nationals must now apply to stay in the UK after Brexit.

There are some 3.5 million people in the UK who now need to apply for settled status to carry on living in the place they call home.

Many of those are elderly or who have lived in the UK for decades and have always assumed they would be allowed to stay once we exit the bloc, currently scheduled for October 31.

The government has advised EU citizens living in Britain that they have until December 2020 to register to retain their rights.

So far, only about one million people have applied and there is confusion about what will happen if we crash out without a deal.

That is looking increasingly likely after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Parliament will be suspended from mid-September, limiting the amount of time MPs who are opposed to a no-deal Brexit can prevent it happening.

Anna Amato with her documentation and correspondence from The Home Office and her husband Connell at their home in Bristol (Picture: Reuters)

Anna said that her father, who died from dementia in March, would be horrified at how EU migrants are being treated.

He moved his family to Britain to work in a factory making washing machines in 1964, a time when Britain was looking abroad for workers.

She said: ‘He loved the UK because he thought it was a fair and decent nation. He was proud to be here.

‘I feel betrayed.’

Anna ran a pizza takeaway for almost 20 years and has also worked as a personal assistant and counsellor.

She began to look into her immigration status in 2017 and spent three months compiling tax returns, bank statements, her qualifications and national insurance number.

The box was so heavy that it cost £35 to post but the Home Office rejected her application for permanent residency, saying she had ‘failed to show you have permanent right of residence.’

The government has so far refused to change its mind, telling Anna that she had failed to prove herself as ‘a qualified person either as a worker, a self-employed person, a student, a jobseeker or a self-sufficient person.’



She can still apply for the EU settled status scheme.

Richard Bertinet from the Bertinet Kitchen has also been denied settled status (Picture: Reuters)

Anna continued: ‘It is so insulting. You know we all need a basic need to feel a sense of belonging, wherever we are.

‘All of a sudden, they snatch it away from you. You become unstable.

‘It gives you anxiety, stress, you know it affects every aspect of your life.’

As well as settled status, Anna can also apply for citizenship through her husband.

But the process is costly and she is offended at having to pay thousands of pounds to stay living somewhere that has been her home for 55 years.

Experts have warned the UK is facing another Windrush scandal, in which British citizens of Caribbean origin were denied rights despite living lawfully in the country for decades.

Some lost jobs, others were wrongly deported.

Richard Bertinet, a renowned French chef who has lived in Britain for the past 31 years, was denied settled status after applying earlier this month with the help of his British wife, a former lawyer.

Richard, who has written two award-winning cookbooks, appeared on cookery television programmes and set up a bakery that supplies Waitrose, said he had only been granted pre-settled status.

The Home Office have given him the right to stay until 2024, when he will need to reapply for settled status.

He said: ‘It is painful and embarrassing.

‘I have spent more time in my life in this country than in France.’

Richard added that he feared for vulnerable people, such as the elderly or those who speak poor English.


He continued: ‘There are going to be a lot of tears for a lot of people.’

A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We have contacted Ms Amato to advise her to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, which is free and simple.

‘Applicants only need to complete three key steps to prove their identity, show that they live in the UK and declare any criminal convictions.

‘One million EU citizens and their families have been granted status so far and they have until at least December 2020 to make an application.’

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