When dual nationality leads to double trouble | Letters
After 32 years of working in the UK, Prof Carine Ronsmans will now be required to pay £589 to return there after visiting her native Belgium. Plus letters from Michael...
By Guardian Staff · The Guardian Opinion
After 32 years of working in the UK, Prof Carine Ronsmans will now be required to pay £589 to return there after visiting her native Belgium. Plus letters from Michael Bulley , Reini Schühle, Dr Michael Paraskos and Dr Peter R King The new border controls being introduced for dual nationals create anomalies that will surprise no one who has followed recent Home Office policy changes ( Dual nationals to be denied entry to UK from 25 February unless they have British passport, 13 February ). At worst they are cruel; at best they are exploitative money-making exercises, unthought out, or the bureaucratic consequence of the introduction of digitisation. I, a Belgian citizen, have worked in the UK for 32 years. My “settled status” now allows me to travel freely between the UK and Belgium using my EU passport. A few years ago, I applied for British citizenship because I was uncertain whether my “entitlement” to live and work in the UK would be maintained after Brexit, and because I wanted to vote in the UK. I have not yet applied for a British passport because I would have to submit my Belgian one for an unknown length of time, which might prevent me from visiting my ailing 96-year-old father in Brussels. Continue reading...