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Brexit means uncertainty for Denmark-based Brits at info meeting

Confusion and uncertainty. That seemed to sum up the mood of many at a briefing for British Nationals in Denmark on citizens’ rights after the UK's exit from the EU.

Published: 31 August 2018 13:27 CEST

Brexit means uncertainty for Denmark-based Brits at info meeting

A file photo of the Danish Architecture Center, where Thursday's meeting took place. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

Around 200 of the over 18,000 British citizens living in Denmark turned up to hear about what Brexit would mean for them at a packed event hosted by the British Embassy in Copenhagen at the Danish Architecture Center on Thursday.

They heard from, and were able to question, a panel including British Ambassador Dominic Schroeder, Chris Jones from the Department for Exiting the EU, and Permanent Secretary for the Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration Uffe Toudal.

Jones said there had been “significant progress” in the Brexit negotiations.

There “isn’t a cliff edge on March next year” when Brexit starts, the Brexit official insisted.

Amongst other things, a withdrawal agreement would ensure that British citizens who have lived in Denmark for five years would be granted a residence document and retain the right to reside in Denmark, people attending the meeting were informed.

UK nationals living in Denmark would receive health care and be treated equally with regard to higher education. Furthermore, their families would be able to stay together on the basis of current EU laws, Jones said.

“The UK government does not want or expect a no-deal outcome,” Jones argued, although he conceded that “if there is no deal then the legal text of the withdrawal deal falls away.”

One person sitting within earshot of The Local’s reporter was less optimistic, telling her friend that this was “a meeting about that we’re fucking up your life forever.”

This quiet outburst appeared to reflect the mood of several of those who asked the panel questions on topics ranging from movement within the EU to issues regarding Danish citizenship.

Others were more confused than hostile. A young man who had asked a question about Brexit and education told the ambassador that he was “quite confused. I get a bit of hopefulness from the British representatives and more realism from the Danes.”

Ambassador Schroeder, who became British ambassador to Denmark in August 2016, two months after the Brexit vote, told the audience that he understood that there is a high sense of uncertainty.

“But we can’t answer all your questions today because we haven’t finished negotiating yet,” Schroeder said.

‘Brexit wasn’t invented in Denmark’

Permanent Secretary for the Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration, Uffe Toudal, tried to be reassuring from a Danish perspective, saying that his government was working hard to ensure that the situation of British citizens living in Denmark would not change dramatically after Brexit.

Toudal got the biggest applause of the evening when he told the audience that “Brexit was certainly not invented in Denmark. We would have preferred that this meeting was not necessary.”

The Danish immigration official was not able to reassure member of the public who found the process of applying for Danish citizenship slow and cumbersome, however.

On average it takes 19 months to process a citizenship application, and “I doubt that it is realistic to foresee a fast-track procedure,” he told the woman in response to her question.

More information from the UK government on Brexit can be found here.

How Brexit has changed life for Brits living in Denmark

EU figures out in January indicated that only about 40 Brits in Denmark had so far been ordered to leave the country as a result of Britain leaving the European Union, a fraction of the 1,050 ordered to leave Sweden. Some 350 Brits in Denmark missed the deadline for post-Brexit residency.

But Brexit is still far from popular. A full 76 percent of the Britons in Denmark who responded to our survey said that Brexit had affected them either “quite” or “extremely” negatively (42.3 percent and 34.6 percent respectively).

Only one respondent said that their life had been very much improved.

Here are some of the ways people said Brexit had made life less convenient and more expensive.

Losing the right to stay in Denmark

William, an account manager based in Copenhagen, was deported from Denmark after failing to apply for post-Brexit residency in time and is even now trying to find out if the decision to deny him residency will be reversed and whether he might be entitled to compensation.

The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) failed to send letters to as many as 1,800 British people informing them of the deadline.

“Siri failed to notify me of the requirement to update my status, I got deported and I experienced stress, anxiety and sickness due to the year-long application and appeals process,” he complained.

Denmark’s immigration minister Kaare Dybvad Bek said last month that the roughly 350 British nationals who risk losing their right to live in Denmark after missing the deadline to apply for a post-Brexit residency permit would get a reprieve. Bek said on February 10th that his department would “present a solution soon”.

“Siri have not yet decided what they will do regarding making changes to finalised decisions that were affected by the rejection of appeal,” William said.

For another British woman living in Copenhagen, Brexit means her UK-based husband can only visit her in Denmark for three months in every six month period, with his passport getting stamped every time.

“It’s usually enough, but if we wanted to visit France for a month that would count too,” she said.

Having to handle a work, residency, or study permit

Brits not eligible for post-Brexit residency now need to apply for a work permit, family reunion, or study permit to get residency in Denmark, which several of those answering the survey complained was difficult, costly and involved long delays.

“This is so annoying,” wrote one reader, who works in the pharmaceuticals industry. Registering for post-Brexit residency had been “a hassle”, agreed a music industry professional.

A 50-year-old woman from Scotland who married a Dane post-Brexit said her application for residency to come and live with him had been rejected on the first attempt, and that she had been so far unable to find a job.

“For two years, I’ve been living an uncertain life worrying about the future,” she said.

Susan, 41, said she found it frustrating not to be able to bring family members from the UK to live with her in Denmark.

Extra hassle getting personal number or bank account

Hannah said that it had taken significantly longer for her to get a Danish personal number (CPR) than it had for her Swedish husband and children.

“Getting CPR, bank accounts etc took a lot longer than rest of family, who are Swedish,” she complained, adding that she was as a result applying for Swedish citizenship.

Unable to get a long-term lease on a car or a monthly mobile phone contract

The pharmaceuticals industry professional blamed Brexit for his inability to get a car through private leasing, although one major car manufacturer told The Local that all that was required was to have a registered address in Denmark, a Danish social security number, and a good enough credit rating.

“I tried several private long-term leasing companies, but they simply told me that they couldn’t lease a car even though I work for a big pharmaceutical company with a permanent position,” he said. “The main problem is my work permit is of type J. If you leave the EU with the car, they wouldn’t know where to find you. Even if they knew when I was, the cost of prosecuting someone in a non-European country is too high.”

He also complained that he had been unable to get a monthly contract from his mobile phone provider meaning he could not upgrade to the new iPhone.

Problems keeping business going

David Darlington, 58, closed down his import and distribution company Food From Home after more than 18 years after Brexit, as it became too difficult to import British goods to Scandinavia.

“One of the reasons I lost my business was because of Brexshit,” he wrote in the survey.

Problems with post and customs charges

Almost everyone who answered the survey complained of the way Brexit had made sending and receiving post and parcels more difficult.

“I had to produce receipts for Easter eggs which my dad had sent to my children. The supermarket receipt wasn’t good enough and in the end I told them to return the parcel,” complained Matt, 47, a Brit with Danish citizenship.

“I’ve stopped ordering books and other items from Amazon UK because of uncertainties with tax regulations,” he added.

“My sisters have to watch the value of presents they send to my grandchildren to avoid paying import taxes,” said a woman living in Copenhagen.

Problems exchanging driving licence

Susan complained about the “difficulty of exchanging driving licence”, even though most UK nationals do not need to take a driving test to exchange their driving licence to a Danish one, provided their licence was issued before the UK left the EU.

Only people who got their licence after Brexit and who want to keep a higher category than a normal car license, entitling them to tow a heavy trailer, take more than eight passengers, or drive a truck or lorry, need to take a so-called “control test”.

Harder to buy a house

“Buying a house involved an extra approval from the ministry and adds additional restrictions,” complained AJ, pointing to the requirement that non-EU citizens apply to the Department of Civil Affairs for permission to buy property in Denmark.

“You have to prove you have strong ties to Denmark,” she said of the process. “We were lucky. We had a great lawyer who got us through it all and we received our approval from the Ministry in two weeks but some people wait up to 12 weeks and then lose their house.”

This does not apply, however, if you have already been resident in Denmark for more than five years.

Difficult to work part-time in the UK

“I will have to give up my online teaching for a college in London because I’m not allowed to teach more than six weeks in another country,” complained the woman living in Copenhagen.

Queues at airport passport control

It can be maddening for Brits to be faced with a much shorter queue for EU citizens at airports in Denmark, while the queue for non-EU citizens edges forward painfully slowly.

Unable to live and work in other EU countries

“We only have the right to reside here. Much as we love Denmark, it’s a bit like being trapped,” complained AJ, one of many people who listed no longer being able to get a job in or move to another EU country as one of the major drawbacks.

Michael, a project manager in the wind industry, said that he faced problems as a result of the limits on how long her can work in other EU countries, with the 90/180 rules only enabling him to work 90 out of any one 180 day period in another EU country.

“Restrictions on travel throughout EU (90/180 rule. Border crossings and risk of stamps in passport that kick 90/180 rule in,” he said.

“The only way to regain my European rights fully is by becoming Danish and the rules on this seem to change quite frequently, so as a result life seems more precarious and uncertain,” said Liz, who lives in Zealand.

One recent retiree who had lived in Denmark for 25 years said she was annoyed that Brexit had lost her “my right to live, work, study, retire in the rest of the EU”, but that she had recently applied for and received Danish citizenship.

Uncertainty about retiring

“I am concerned about the future,” said Sandra. “When I retire will I still have the same rights or will I be told to leave?”.

Uncertainty about extending post-Brexit residency card

Under the EU withdrawal agreement, British citizens living in EU countries at the time Britain left the European Union were offered post-Brexit residency status indefinitely, but the certificates they were issued were only valid for five years, leaving many uncertain as to what happens when they try to renew.

“I expect to find it more difficult to obtain permanent residency on completion of the Article 51 Temp Residency I got in 2021,” wrote Ian.

Feels different

For many respondents, the biggest change was emotional. Brexit has changed how comfortable and secure they feel living in Denmark.

“It feels different to be needing a resident’s card, rather than being more a ‘part of the European family’, with the feeling of being ‘on probation’ for remaining,” said Stephen.

“It makes me feel far away from daughter and friends,” said Caroline, a retiree.

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