Dutch residency rules require the following:

(yes sadly it is officially an impossible circle, but since I've managed to break it then it's OK):

BSN number (check);
Health insurance (check):
Residence and work permit (currently none needed as I am an EU citizen).

I would therefore have to obtain a residency permit. To obtain one, I would have to satisfy one of a few criteria. Most are entirely irrelevant to me (although perhaps I could be seen as a refugee in the event of Brexit ;-)). I have no children born in NL, and am divorced from my Dutch wife so the only remaining one would be a permanent employment contract.

I am a freelancer (and as luck would have it not on a contract until at least 2 weeks from now. Nice timing).

Therefore, and since I have no actual FACT since the Leave campaign has not volunteered any plans on what will happen, I can only base this on the situation in which I first came to the country (pre-Schengen when I DID need a work and residence permit until 1999, and a permanent employment contract in order to satisfy it), and on the situation in which my non-EU friends are in.

Of course I could compare it to my Norwegian friends who have life a little easier because they have an arrangement by which freedom of movement and employment in and out of Norway adheres to EU legislation without having any say in it. But if we did that, it would essentially mean by default that there would be no change to immigration and our discussion would be futile, so let's assume that for the sake of argument that the UK decided to actually go it alone.

So basically I would have to return to employment in order to gain an employment contract (and even those are normally temporary the first one or two renewals) before then applying for a work and residence permit, before quitting and going back to freelancing. Really not what I want. The obvious answer to continuing to work in the model I want to would be to move back to the UK. However that wouldn't be perfect since at the moment I have complete freedom of movement. Last year I worked for 7 months in Germany (and 1 month in the US on their visa system with the EU). Since I've been here I've worked in France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary. I would like to continue that freedom to find the right work.

The other alternative is a Dutch passport. I meet all the criteria for one. However in the case of Brexit I would have to obtain the residency and work permit and proof of a non-temporary reason to stay which at the moment I do not need to provide in order to achieve Dutch nationality.

Sadly at the moment the Netherlands does not generally allow dual British-Dutch citizenship. Therefore if I want to go down that route I would have to surrender my British nationality which I am not happy to do for obvious reasons.

I have been here 20 years and therefore am much more likely to jump through hoops to retain my freedom of movement and work. However, for the vast majority of UK "expats" (i.e. immigrants) who have far less invested in their time here, the most obvious course of action would be to go home.

But the whole thing is that this is an educated (yes, EDUCATED) guess as there are no plans whatsoever for what happens post Brexit. But my scenario above is the most likely in my opinion based on similar and comparable situations in the past and at the moment.

Now. Your turn.

Posted By: Steve in Holland on June 20th 2016 at 12:37:31

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