Will Brexit affect your move to Europe?

30 Jun 2016 Will Brexit affect your move to Europe?

If you’re planning to move from the UK to another EU country, you may well be worrying about the impact Brexit will have on your future.

At the moment, around 1.2 million British people live outside the UK in other EU nations. The most popular European destination for Brits to move to is Spain which is home to 310,000 UK-born people.

Meanwhile, Ireland has 250,000 British people living within its borders and France has 190,000. The UK’s membership of the EU gives British people the right to move freely within the EU and settle in another country to live and work.

However, in the wake of last week’s referendum where 52% voted for Britain to leave the EU, there is now uncertainty over the future.

The good news is that is you are currently planning to move to another country in the EU, there is no need to panic. Britain has not left the EU yet and it won’t leave the union until the Government invokes Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.

At the moment, there appears to be some reluctance to start the process of leaving. And after David Cameron’s resignation, the decision on how to proceed will be not be made until his replacement takes over as Prime Minister in the autumn.

Even when Article 50 has been triggered, there will be another two years before Britain leaves the EU. During this time, negotiations will take place which is likely to involve coming to an agreement about the rights of British people to live and work in the EU as well as the rights of EU citizens to live and work in Britain.

Rights of British citizens will depend on outcome of negotiations

This timescale means that any immediate plans to move to the EU are unlikely to be affected by Brexit. It is also likely that once Britain has left the EU, British citizens will still be allowed to own property in Europe.

There could be some changes which will affect life for expats, although the details of these will not be known until formal negotiations with other EU member states have taken place. It could be that there are changes to the law regarding tax and inheritance.

It also may become more complicated to work in the EU once Britain has left the union. Depending on what agreements are reached, British citizens could end up losing the right to work in any country in the EU.

This does not mean that British people won’t be able to take jobs in Europe, just that the process may become more complicated. There may be more paperwork involved, particularly when setting up a business, and Brits may need to apply for a Blue Card.

A Blue Card is a work permit which allows citizens from outside the EU to live and work in any EU country, except Denmark, Ireland and currently the UK. Not everyone is eligible for a Blue Card and applicants would need to demonstrate that they have useful skills or a good level of education.

As well as being skilled, applicants must have a work contract or binding job offer.

Andrew Porter Limited handles house moves from the UK to destinations all over Europe. We have dedicated European removals crews who understand the challenges of moving abroad.

We specialise in weekly removals to France, Spain and Portugal but our team can assist with a relocation to any destination in Europe or beyond.

Andrew Porter have now launched a dedicated laboratory relocation specialist, APort Global. As part of this there is now a dedicated web site where you can get all the up to date and relevant information about our laboratory relocation services.

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