Brexit vote one year on: How it is affecting expats' day-to-day lives

‘I feel less British’

Colin Moors will retire soon and applied for citizenship in part to secure his right to live in the EU

I’ve been in Belgium for 18 years with a brief year-and-a-half hiatus when I worked for local government in the UK. I couldn’t wait to get back here. I intend to stay for the next two to three years. I’ve bought a house in France with my wife and we intend to retire there.

I’m applying for citizenship because I’ve always considered Belgium my home and until now, I never really considered that being Belgian meant anything; as a European, I have the right to call it my home without anyone taking issue. Now, I feel that this may very well not be the case. Rather than face the uncertainty of my right to remain or to conduct the independent business I have run for fifteen years, I decided to make it legal. I doubt I will feel more Belgian, but I feel quite a bit less British.

I will still be entitled to a pension, as I always have been, although a favourable decision in the negotiations should put paid to any questions that may be raised later in life.

Of course, I get a vote in the national elections now, which may or may not be exciting, depending on how you feel about these things. I am personally very pleased to be able to finally give my tax euros a voice. For the moment, it’s a weird limbo. I feel I need a decision on my citizenship to calm the waters. There’s talk about only allowing certain countries one passport: Belgian or nothing. Would I give up my nationality to stay European? For sure.

‘I felt stabbed in the heart when the result was announced’

The referendum revealed pockets of anti-immigrant feeling in the UK, making people like Kaysha Christie, a Brit with Jamaican parents, doubt whether she could feel at home there again

I don’t want to change my nationality. I feel lost in limbo, but because I don’t feel at home in Belgium, I think it would be wrong to change my status. Normally you would change your nationality because you’re settled and want to stay in a country. I’m far from this.

When the results of the referendum were announced, I felt stabbed in the heart. It really felt like a funeral, especially when I was reminded again that many people in the UK still have a major issue with immigration. My family is from Jamaica but I was born and raised in the UK, so I consider that it’s my home, but now I feel like I’m cast out.

Many British people abroad feel the same way, but I feel for me it’s worse. I came here to gain work experience and to see another culture and way of life. I’m not at a point to make a permanent decision on where I will settle, but this referendum is forcing these decisions earlier. I’m really hoping that I can have a special status as an EU citizen, especially because my partner is Spanish and we have two children.

‘I’m eligible, so why not?’

Married to a European Parliament official and based in Belgium for many years, David Robertson, creator of bestbikingroads.com and a freelance technology consultant, has adopted Belgian nationality in the wake of Brexit

I’ve been living in Belgium for 10 years and in the Netherlands before that. I applied for Belgian nationality because of the questions about pensions and investment and the general sense of uncertainty. I’m eligible, I can have dual nationality and so I thought why not?

When the Brexit result was announced, I was extremely surprised. There was a sense of disbelief and a lot of disappointment and concern about what the impact might be. I have many customers in the UK and with the currency down that also had an impact. I am always looking at new projects but many of these rely on the single market. I have a lot of eggs in the EU single market basket and I just can’t believe that people feel so strongly that they would give all that up.

Many of my friends and family voted to leave. This is of course quite a divisive issue and creates some tension. When you press them as to why, they don’t have very good reasons. The life here is nice. I like the location. There is a lot on offer here in terms of culture and the ability to get elsewhere. My wife is Estonian and works for the European institutions so it’s logical for us to be here. I feel now like I am more invested here. It’s a bit like when you get married!

‘We are bargaining chips now’

A head of unit at the European Parliament and a resident of Brussels for 20 years, Adam Isaacs is not optimistic about a good outcome for British eurocrats

Everybody where I work is pretty sympathetic, so on a personal level it’s fine, but even if they understand that we Brits are unsettled, no one can provide any guarantees. We are bargaining chips now and I have no confidence that anyone will defend our position. When I came here, there was an acknowledgement that what we were doing was in the UK’s national interest. After 20 years of professional life here, it’s been repudiated by my countrymen. It feels like a personal repudiation.

I was promoted after Brexit but I’d had my interview in May, before the vote. But at more senior levels, appointments are political and you’re not going to get them. It would be crazy to imagine that it could be any different. As for citizenship, I don’t see why I should do this. When I was recruited I fulfilled all the requirements to be here. The question now is whether the UK will honour the terms on which we were all recruited and I’m not optimistic about that.

This article first appeared in The Bulletin Summer 2017. Browse the magazine here, pick up a copy in newsagents or subscribe today...