The Spanish Prime Minister has announced plans to end the so-called 'golden visa' scheme in a major blow to thousands of British expats.
Japan this week started offering a digital nomad visa, which will allow Britons to work remotely from the country for nine months without paying local income taxes.
Brexit: Millions were denied a vote
03/03/2024
The Conservatives 2015 manifesto promised ‘votes for life’ for all Britons living abroad – in line with other major democracies, such as the USA, France, Italy, and Canada.
Julia and Ian Gilmore, who live in Italy, say the process detailed online was complicated and lacked guidelines.
Overseas voters’ decisive Brexit-fuelled shift from Conservatives casts doubt on government Votes For Life pledge
04/08/2020
Overseas voters abandoned the Conservatives in droves after Brexit but this shift in political allegiance could ultimately deter the government from keeping its promise to grant them votes for life, warns a new study by the University of Sussex.
Collapsed trade talks, new border checks, 14-hour queues at the border and medicine shortages... it's just another day in Brexit land.
Four years on from Brexit, and seven and a half years after the referendum, the wounds we suffered still smart. Many were denied their democratic voting rights in the 2016 referendum. Many were denied the opportunity to vote against a Brexit government in subsequent general elections. / Yet we still had to deal with the consequences and the removal of our rights, benefits and opportunities.
Another blow for Rishi Sunak as study shows 2.3m British expats getting vote for first time at election 'plan to punish the Tories for Brexit'
29/01/2024
Rishi Sunak has been dealt a fresh blow after experts predicted he'll fail to win the support of an extra 2.3million British expats getting a vote for the first time this year. / Earlier this month, new rules came into effect that gave British citizens living abroad the right to 'votes for life'.
UK’s exit from EU has seen overseas residents’ bank accounts closed – leading to ‘big problems’ accessing savings.
‘I felt like something had died’: British expats scrambling to replace passports after Brexit
20/08/2023
Diana Kanter, 71 and from Surrey, told i she wanted a new passport after Brexit to beat queues at the airport – and to feel European again.
UK expatriates have expressed regret at no longer being able to live in their houses in Europe after failing to obtain residency visas. None more so than those who voted for Brexit.
‘I voted for Brexit and was told it wouldn’t affect expats – now I can’t live in my £13,000 Italian house’
28/07/2023
Greg Walter, from Winchester, says he feels betrayed as he and his partner are struggling to get visas to live in Italy. / A British couple in their sixties have bought a bargain €15,000 (£13,000) three-bedroom house in Italy for their retirement – but they cannot get a visa to live in it because of post-Brexit travel rules.
Second home ownership and retirement to the continent, once within reach of ordinary citizens, is now the preserve of the wealthy.
At least 10 banks, building societies and credit card firms have now decided to close accounts held by Brits living abroad in Europe as a result of Brexit, MoneySavingExpert.com has found – with Nationwide and Co-op Bank among the latest to announce closures. We've full info below on what banks are doing, plus help on what to do if you're affected.
‘My Brexit nightmare in Spain’: The British expats forced to jump through hoops to keep jobs
21/07/2023
Chris Pellow, 64, will get to vote in Spain’s election on Sunday, but says it’s no compensation for the problems caused by the UK’s exit from Europe
How Brexit killed the expat dream
21/06/2023
Post-Brexit travel rules are killing any hopes of la dolce vita.
Among the local government team in Spain's Costa Blanca region, a name with a distinctly British ring to it stands out.
British expats hit by crackdown on Brexit ‘golden visas’ as property prices soar in Portugal
28/02/2023
A British travel writer hit by rising property prices in Portugal says the government’s recent crackdown is targeting the wrong people.
Spain and UK struggle to reach post-Brexit agreement on driving licences, causing stress and family rows
19/11/2022
Thousands of British expats are unable to obtain driving licences – and some say the isolation and difficulty of not being able to drive has harmed their health.
NI man faces anxious wait over call on Swedish permanent residency status.
Hundreds of UK nationals who moved to Portugal before the end of the Brexit deadline are being caught out by delays in the processing of their residency applications.
Algarve ‘Brexit balls-up’
26/10/2022
Brits in several municipalities discover biometric data for new residency cards ‘can only be processed in Lisbon’.
A study has suggested that the complicated process of securing a visa to live in Spain was putting Britons off.
Brits across EU slide into Brexit banking limbo as Barclays, Lloyd’s and Halifax shut their accounts
12/08/2022
Thousands of Brits residing in the EU have been informed by UK banks that their EU-based bank accounts will soon be shut.