Thread by @NikGammon

I am #OneOfThe5Million and #BrexitIsPersonal. Almost 30 yrs ago my then wife and I packed up our belongings and moved with our six months old baby, to a village in the Gaeltach at the edge of Europe in the far west of Ireland. 1/12

Two more babies followed and all three became bi-lingual in Irish and English. We left that beautiful splinter of rock thrust into the Atlantic 11 yrs later for another beautiful place, Guéthary in the French Basque country 2/12

As our children progressed through maternelle, primaire, college and Lycée they became French for practical purposes. Over the next 15 yrs the children left for university in the UK and I was delighted I had been able to give them such a culturally rich upbringing. 3/11

In 2014, our marriage sadly having been dissolved, I met a Dutch woman and in 2016 moved to Amsterdam. 4/12

I was not permitted to vote in the referendum in 2016, which might strip my children and me of our European citizenship. 5/12

On the 4th of May I will be eligible to apply for Dutch citizenship, just over a month after the UK withdraws from the EU. In order to attain this I will have to renounce my British citizenship. 6/12

Moreover, in order to obtain Dutch citizenship, I must be living in the Netherlands legally during the period preceding the application. If the UK does not conclude the withdrawal agreement with the EU, I will become a person with 3rd country status. 7/12

That means I will be no longer legally resident in the Netherlands and therefore not eligible for Dutch citizenship. Even if that hurdle is crossed, my partner’s income is not sufficient to sponsor me for citizenship. 9/12

It’s possible my income could be included, note possible not sure, because I am self-employed and registered at the Chamber of Commerce. However, a substantial part of my income comes from translations for an Italian agency. 10/12

Under article 32 of the draft withdrawal agreement, as a UK resident in the Netherlands I would not be permitted to supply services to other EU countries. Such as providing translations for an agency in Rome. 11/12

So I may not be able to support myself, thus failing on another criteria for citizenship. I am #OneOfThe5Million and #BrexitIsPersonal. 12/12