New research details “striking challenges” facing “Brexit couples”

Post-Brexit changes to EU citizens’ rights have had a detrimental impact on the mental health of those involved and their families, according to a new report.

It says those affected have had their lives “turned upside down” by the demands of the rules.

Some even reportedly contemplated taking their own lives because of the “striking” challenges faced by so-called “Brexit couples”.

These are some of the findings of exhaustive new research in the UK surrounding the end of decades of free movement between the UK and the EU.

Brexit couples are deemed to be romantic or marital partners made up of a British citizen (or UK resident) and an EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen who must navigate the UK’s post-Brexit immigration system to live together in the UK.

Before Brexit, UK-EU couples could live together easily in the UK under EU free movement laws but, after Brexit, EU partners without EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) status lost that automatic right.

The Brexit Couples project was conducted by Professor Katharine Charsley, Professor Helena Wray, Dr Nicole Hoellerer, Dr Jasmin El-Shewy, and Dr Katie Cross, from the Universities of Bristol and Exeter and the results were presented during a meeting of a UK parliamentary group concerned with EU citizens’ rights  earlier this week. The session brought together researchers, MPs and people with direct experience of the challenges faced by “Brexit couples”.

The discussion was an opportunity to hear personal testimonies, examine emerging research and consider what further action may be needed to support affected families. Helena Wray, Professor of Migration Law at the University of Exeter and  Katharine Charsley, Professor of Migration Studies at the University of Bristol shared insights from the project. Their findings are particularly timely on the eve of a key EU/UK summit in Brussels in November when new efforts are expected to be made at the much-vaunted EU/UK “Re-set” in relations between the two sides.

Afterwards, Prof Charsley told this site, “There is a dramatic contrast between the EU free movement enjoyed by UK-EU couples and families before Brexit, and the UK’s family migration system, one of the most restrictive in the world.

“UK-EU couples who want to start their lives together in the UK and families wanting to return after living in the EU often find their plans scuppered by a high and rigid minimum income threshold, extortionate visa fees and other costs, and an over-complex application process.

“Even for those who successfully apply for a visa, the experience is highly stressful, impacting on relationships and financial and mental wellbeing,” added Prof Charsley.

The study points out that 50 years of free movement between the UK and the EU ended on 31 December 2020, when the Brexit transition period expired.

EU citizens already living in the UK could usually preserve their residence rights through the EU Settlement Scheme but, since then, EU citizens wanting to live in the UK must comply with what the study calls the UK’s “highly restrictive migration rules.”

The Brexit Couples project tracked the experiences of members of the first cohort of EU citizens seeking to enter the UK after Brexit as the spouses and partners of British citizens and residents and who therefore had to go through the visa system.

The authors state, “The position of this group was barely considered during the Brexit negotiations even though UK-EU relationships were commonplace, are likely to continue to develop after Brexit, and UK-EU couples living overseas will continue to seek to return.”

They add, “The UK’s partner migration rules are among the most restrictive, complex and expensive in the world.”

The study says that the contrast between the position under free movement before Brexit and the immigration rules after Brexit “is striking and became more so” after the minimum income requirement for UK sponsors increased from £18,600 to £29,000 pain 2024.

The project report, called “Brexit Couples: UK-EU couples in the British immigration system”, showed that, after a “slow start”, the number of UK-EU couples applying under the partner migration rules has started to increase “significantly.”

The researchers interviewed more than 50 UK-EU couples at various points of the partner migration process: some were considering an application, others had made a successful or unsuccessful application, and some could not meet the requirements or had decided not to apply.

“Having lived through an era of almost unrestricted movement between the UK and the rest of the EU, many were shocked to be now treated as migrants,” the report says.

“This led to reflection on who a ‘migrant’ is, and the political and social meanings of the term.”

“Some interviewees hoped for legal recognition of their position as European citizens while, for others, there was a new appreciation of the global and racialised inequalities caused by border controls,” states the 75-page study.

It goes on, “Our statistical analysis shows that UK-EU couples living in the UK before Brexit were on average more educated and more likely to be in professional or managerial occupations than couples in which both partners were born in the UK.

“These characteristics were also present in our sample. yet our research found that they all experienced the partner visa process as difficult, complex, expensive, and stressful.”

The authors say, “As we demonstrate, participants had their lives turned upside down by the demands of the rules and some parents were separated for months from children including, sometimes, when they could meet the substantive requirements of the rules but were caught by errors or inflexibility.”

“The impact on them was severe and included financial and career implications, mental health challenges for themselves and their children, and strains on their relationship.”

The study quotes the EU partner of a UK national saying, “It takes a mental toll on you. Not everyone is going to be equipped to deal with it very well… The anxiety of it is intense… There are people who… are going to have a nervous breakdown.”

A UK partner, suffering from cancer, spoke of the application process, saying, “Throughout the whole damn process that visa was eating away at me, just like you’d imagine the cancer would, and affected my sense of wellbeing… It was just too much, it was just so overwhelming.”

The study says, “Some participants described serious mental health impacts from their engagement in this demanding, stressful and extended process. Several reported anxiety and depression, and one applicant unable to move to the UK to care for her seriously ill partner told us that she had contemplated suicide.”

She is quoted as saying, “I just wanted it all to end… I just got depressed and it got worse and worse. At some point I just planned, in great detail, the way I wanted to end my life because of this… I still haven’t recovered entirely from that.”

The study continues, “Our findings are consistent with existing research which shows the damage caused to families and individuals by the UK’s partner migration system.”

The project, state its authors, “shows that even a population which has advantages compared to many other national groups — being relatively well educated, geographically close and able to make visa free visits — experience the system as extremely challenging.”

“British citizens and settled residents will continue to meet and fall in love with EU citizens despite Brexit.

“Building a new relationship with the EU is a major challenge for post-Brexit governments. The current partner migration rules do not meet that challenge as they are too complex, difficult and expensive. The rules also affect British citizens in relationships with non-nationals from across the globe.

“The contrast between EU free movement and the UK’s immigration system sheds light on the extreme restrictiveness of the immigration regime. Our recommendations aim to remedy injustice and hardship for both UK-EU couples, and a much wider range of families.”

Several recommendations are made surrounding future immigration rules, the application process and costs.

The study’s authors want the UK government to reduce the minimum income requirement for applicants, provide and “more flexible” support, increase length of the initial visa to avoid costs and also to “recognise the importance of visits for maintaining relationships” particularly for UK-EU couples for whom European travel is relatively straightforward even if they cannot live together.