In this week’s Sweden in Focus Extra, The Local’s Nordic correspondent Richard Orange chats to Kenny Solomons about his colourful life in Sweden and why he now has to leave after his late application for post-Brexit residency was rejected.
“It’s now 19 months since I sent in my appeal to the Migration Court, and the pressure of not knowing, every day, and the pressure of having to say ‘no’ to career opportunities outside of Europe, and the pressure of not knowing with 100 percent certainty that I can live and work in Sweden in the long run was just affecting my health, and my mental health as well,” he says.
“I hit the wall, was suffering with anxiety, and was incredibly unhappy. So I made the decision.”
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Perhaps I live a sheltered life, but who the heck is Kenny Solomons? And at around 17:02 in the tape he says something about the British Embassy having a “list” of everyone in Sweden?? so that they could send a letter informing of post-Brexit formalities. Are you sure? Meanwhile, just about every news outlet wrote/talked at length about post-Brexit consequences for British people living within the EU. It was truly difficult not to be aware of potential residency permit problems.
I think some of us assume that everyone else watches or reads news when many people don’t. I also think with Brexit there were a lot of people who were too well integrated in their Swedish lives, who never met other Brits, and too busy working and living to wake up to the risks from Brexit. Some of the people I’ve spoken to who weren’t aware of the need to apply for post-Brexit residency are far from stupid, but they do seem to often have ‘creative’ personalities.
Oh, the joys of being a creative actor, artist, entertainer, writer. All shall be forgiven for their misdeeds and unawareness. ‘Twas just an oversight Your Honour. Promise it won’t happen again 😢…