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Q&A: Will I be able to move to Germany after the Brexit transition period?

Brexit will change the lives of British people living in Germany, and for those Brits who want to move in future. In the second part of our question and answer with experts we looked at travel, citizenship and moving to Germany.

Published: 6 August 2020 16:33 CEST
Updated: 14 August 2020 09:07 CEST
Q&A: Will I be able to move to Germany after the Brexit transition period?
A plane leaving from Frankfurt in March. Photo: DPA

How will life change for British people living in Germany after the Brexit transition period ends on December 31st? And will Brits still be able to move to the Bundesrepublik in future?

We put some questions on these issues to Sir Sebastian Wood, British Ambassador to Germany and Axel Dittmann, head of the Brexit Taskforce in Germany.

For the first part of the Q&A on general rights for Brits in Germany click here.

The Local: Will British people in Germany lose the right to freedom of movement throughout the EU after the transition period?

Sir Sebastian Wood: I understand onward movement rights – the right to move to live and work in another EU member state after the end of the transition period – are an important issue for UK nationals living in Germany. Unfortunately, these are not protected in the Withdrawal Agreement.

The British government sought the inclusion of onward movement rights during the first phase of negotiations on citizens’ rights in the Withdrawal Agreement, but the EU took the view that this was a benefit closely associated with membership in the EU and therefore should be excluded. During the transition period, UK nationals will be able to move to other EU member states as before. 

Axel Dittmann:  British citizens will be allowed to travel to other Schengen States, using the newly introduced residence cards for British citizens which serve as documentation of their rights under the Withdrawal Agreement. They can stay for up to 90 days within any 180 day period.

However, they will no longer be allowed to work in any other EU or Schengen State without a permit from that state. There are special rights under the Withdrawal Agreement for frontier workers who have been living in a different state than the EU member state where they were working on 31 December 2020. They will be permitted to continue their frontier work, and will eventually receive appropriate permits from both of the states involved.

The Local: After Brexit, do British nationals in Germany need to carry any documents when travelling (other than a passport)? Will they be able to get back into Germany easily? Are British people in Germany still able to use the ‘EU passport’ line during the transition period?

Axel Dittmann: During the transition period, British people will enjoy the full rights of freedom of movement and will therefore be able to use the EU passport line. After it ends, however, they will no longer be entitled to use the EU line. They should be able to provide documentation of their rights under the Withdrawal Agreement. After 30th June 2021, they will be required to show the new residence document, or a temporary substitute upon entry and exit.

READ ALSO: 'With chemo you can't stop giving medicine': How Brexit healthcare fears pushed a UK family to Germany

The Local: Will British people who are eligible to apply for German citizenship after the transition period be able to retain their British passport (dual citizenship) or do they lose that right? 

Axel Dittmann: British people with dual German and British citizenship have the right to retain their dual citizenship. Furthermore, transitional arrangements are in place so that British citizens who apply for naturalisation before the end of the transition period may retain their British citizenship, even if the authorities do not complete processing their application until after the end of the transition period. In these cases, all relevant conditions must be met at the time of application and at the time of naturalisation.

However, British citizens who apply for German citizenship after the end of the transition period will be required to give up their British citizenship.

READ ALSO: Explained: What you need to know about applying for German citizenship

A German and British passport. Photo: DPA

The Local: After the transition period ends, will British people still be able to move to Germany? Will they be required to meet any conditions? And if so, which conditions?

Axel Dittmann: The Withdrawal Agreement does not specify rights for British people wishing to move to Germany after the end of the transition period. The future rules on the movement of persons between the UK and the EU depend on the current negotiations. If there is no agreement, the same rules as for other third-country nationals will apply. Websites like Make it in Germany show the available paths to live and work in Germany.

As an experienced and welcoming destination country for third country nationals, Germany will still be open to people from all over the world – including from the United Kingdom. And British people married to a German national will generally have the right to move to Germany under a special scheme for family reunification.

READ ALSO: Can Brits still move to Germany after Brexit day?

The Local: How are British students planning to study in Germany after the transition period affected by Brexit?

Axel Dittmann: Since the UK is part of the European Higher Education Area with 48 countries involved, there will be no changes in accessing or progressing within the German higher education system when it comes to pursuing a Bachelors, Masters, or PhD degree.

When it comes to fees, British students who plan to start studying in Germany after the transition period will probably be subject to the same rules as other non-EU country nationals. However, only one of sixteen Länder (Baden-Württemberg) currently charges fees for third country nationals.

The Local: What will British nationals moving to Germany after the end of the transition period need to do to ensure they have healthcare coverage?

Sir Sebastian Wood and Axel Dittmann: For British nationals moving to Germany after the transition period, the teams negotiating the future UK-EU relationship are discussing the issue of healthcare coverage at present.

Do you have any other questions about Brexit that The Local can try and answer? Email us: [email protected]

Useful links

You can find more information, and keep up to date with any developments, by subscribing to the Living in Germany Guide on the UK government website.

Visit the German government website for further general information.

For more information about qualification recognition this is a helpful German website.

If you are receiving BAfög, the German student and trainee loan, you find information on this website.

For more information on German citizenship visit this website.

The British embassy recommends reading  UK nationals in the EU: essential information, attending one of the embassy's citizens outreach meeting and following your local British Embassy on Facebook and Twitter.

 

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BREXIT

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

The EU has drawn up plans to make it easier for non-EU citizens to gain longterm EU residency so they can move more easily around the bloc, but Italy-based citizens' rights campaigner Clarissa Killwick says Brits who moved to the EU before Brexit are already losing out.

Published: 8 December 2023 14:34 CET
OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

With all the talk about the EU long-term residency permit and the proposed improvements there is no mention that UK citizens who are Withdrawal Agreement “beneficiaries” are currently being left out in the cold.

The European Commission has stated that we can hold multiple statuses including the EU long-term permit (Under a little-known EU law, third-country nationals can in theory acquire EU-wide long-term resident status if they have lived ‘legally’ in an EU country for at least five years) but in reality it is just not happening.

This effectively leaves Brits locked into their host countries while other third country nationals can enjoy some mobility rights. As yet, in Italy, it is literally a question of the computer saying no if someone tries to apply.

The lack of access to the EU long-term permit to pre-Brexit Brits is an EU-wide issue and has been flagged up to the European Commission but progress is very slow.

READ ALSO: EU government settle on rules for how non-EU citizens could move around Europe

My guess is that few UK nationals who already have permanent residency status under the Withdrawal Agreement are even aware of the extra mobility rights they could have with the EU long-term residency permit – or do not even realise they are two different things.

Perhaps there won’t be very large numbers clamouring for it but it is nothing short of discrimination not to make it accessible to British people who’ve built their lives in the EU.

They may have lost their status as EU citizens but nothing has changed concerning the contributions they make, both economically and socially.

An example of how Withdrawal Agreement Brits in Italy are losing out

My son, who has lived almost his whole life here, wanted to study in the Netherlands to improve his employment prospects.

Dutch universities grant home fees rather than international fees to holders of an EU long-term permit. The difference in fees for a Master’s, for example, is an eye-watering €18,000. He went through the application process, collecting the requisite documents, making the payments and waited many months for an appointment at the “questura”, (local immigration office).

On the day, it took some persuading before they agreed he should be able to apply but then the whole thing was stymied because the national computer system would not accept a UK national. I am in no doubt, incidentally, that had he been successful he would have had to hand in his WA  “carta di soggiorno”.

This was back in February 2022 and nothing has budged since then. In the meantime, it is a question of pay up or give up for any students in the same boat as my son. There is, in fact, a very high take up of the EU long-term permit in Italy so my son’s non-EU contemporaries do not face this barrier.

Long-term permit: The EU’s plan to make freedom of movement easier for non- EU nationals 

Completing his studies was stalled by a year until finally his Italian citizenship came through after waiting over 5 years.  I also meet working adults in Italy with the EU long-term permit who use it for work purposes, such as in Belgium and Germany, and for family reunification.  

Withdrawal agreement card should double up as EU long-term residency permit

A statement that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries should be able to hold multiple statuses is not that easy to find. You have to scroll quite far down the page on the European Commission’s website to find a link to an explanatory document. It has been languishing there since March 2022 but so far not proved very useful.

It has been pointed out to the Commission that the document needs to be multilingual not just in English and “branded” as an official communication from the Commission so it can be used as a stand-alone. But having an official document you can wave at the immigration authorities is going to get you nowhere if Member State governments haven’t acknowledged that WA beneficiaries can hold multiple statuses and issue clear guidance and make sure systems are modified accordingly.

I can appreciate this is no mean feat in countries where they do not usually allow multiple statuses or, even if they do, issue more than one residency card. Of course, other statuses we should be able to hold are not confined to EU long-term residency, they should include the EU Blue Card, dual nationality, family member of an EU citizen…

Personally, I do think people should be up in arms about this. The UK and EU negotiated an agreement which not only removed our freedom of movement as EU citizens, it also failed to automatically give us equal mobility rights to other third country nationals. We are now neither one thing nor the other.

It would seem the only favour the Withdrawal Agreement did us was we didn’t have to go out and come back in again! Brits who follow us, fortunate enough to get a visa, may well pip us at the post being able to apply for EU long-term residency as clearly defined non-EU citizens.

I have been bringing this issue to the attention of the embassy in Rome, FCDO and the European Commission for three years now. I hope we will see some movement soon.

Finally, there should be no dragging of heels assuming we will all take citizenship of our host countries. Actually, we shouldn’t have to, my son was fortunate, even though it took a long time. Others may not meet the requirements or wish to give up their UK citizenship in countries which do not permit dual nationality.  

Bureaucratic challenges may seem almost insurmountable but why not simply allow our Withdrawal Agreement permanent card to double up as the EU long-term residency permit.

Clarissa Killwick,

Since 2016, Clarissa has been a citizens’ rights campaigner and advocate with the pan-European group, Brexpats – Hear Our Voice.
She is co-founder and co-admin of the FB group in Italy, Beyond Brexit – UK citizens in Italy.

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