Brexiled
Friday about a week ago a courier called.
He asked me to repeat the number on my passport and sign a receipt.
In exchange he gave me a small piece of plastic issued by the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Department (IND). Not very exciting but it was worth a very small sigh of relief and a larger sigh of resignation. It had been a long time coming and should not have been neccessary at all. However there came a time during the bumbling, stumbling, and at times farcical Brexit saga that I realized doing nothing was not the best option to safeguard my status here in The Netherlands.
I would have to consider the other possibilities. I had already inquired about obtaining a Dutch passport, I qualified and my documentation was in order, however I discovered that I was reluctant to give up my British citizenship and become a Dutch national although I didn't feel strongly about either. The main reason for my reluctance was not the choices but the fact that, through no fault of my own, I was being forced to consider the need to make a choice. Anyway a change of nationality just didn't feel right. Why? I don't really know. That's the trouble with feelings.
Maybe it's easier to think about what would feel right?
Well, the very first passports were issued by cities, I think I would have been quite happy with that. In common with many people living in a foreign country I have a greater affinity with the place where I live than with the country as a whole. At the other end of the scale, as a Brit living in The Netherlands, just a couple of hours drive to France or Germany and a 15 minute bike ride to Belgium, if I ride slowly, I am a European and I feel European. There was, and still is, a movement to allow Brexpats like me to become individual European citizens with a passport issued by the EU. Now, if that ever happens I'd jump at the opportunity!
Anyway I studied all the options, made my choice, filled in the forms and paid the fees...
...and that's when Covid-19 came to town!
For a short time all their offices were closed, then the IND would send me regular reminders by post that I should register my biometrics, in person, within two weeks. At the same time that they informed me online that the desks were only open for urgent business and that my business was not considered urgent. When they did eventually open again for less important matters it was no easy task to make an appointment. They were open for limited periods, for a limited number of people and they had a huge backlog. I still had a slight hope that I'd be away for most of September which didn't help. The first available date and place that suited both the IND and myself was two months later in Rotterdam. By that time the second Corona wave was a fact, the city of Rotterdam was Code Red, only to be visited for essential business. So along with all the other costs and inconvenience Brexit had caused me, now I had to risk my life in a Corona hot spot! As it turned out it couldn't have been much safer. The the normally bustling station and city centre were almost deserted. The shops, restaurants and cafés were all open but empty. Even though it was midday in the middle of the week it was hard to find anybody to social distance myself from! I was processed, fingerprinted, photographed and registered in about five minutes and was soon on my way back home in my private Intercity train.
The piece of plastic, decorated with a picture of me looking like a recently arrested criminal, was a 'Permanent Residence Permit'. That's what I chose in the end. Why? Well, it was relatively cheap, a special cut-price offer for Brexpats, and it doesn't involve swearing an oath of allegiance to King and Country. Taking on a new nationality would have. Okay, it's a formality, you just have to get the words right but even so... I'm not sure I could swear allegiance to anything or anybody with any degree of sincerity or a straight face...
So that's my status in The Netherlands dealt with..
but what about my relationship with the United Kingdom of Great Britain?
Well it was a close thing but we are not divorced.
We will, however, continue living apart
and the chances of us getting back together again are not great.
