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The hassle and expense of UK immigration law was one reason I moved to Germany, even though I'd been living in London for about 8.5 years and was on track (in a

The hassle and expense of UK immigration law was one reason I moved to Germany, even though I'd been living in London for about 8.5 years and was on track (in another three or four, with at least two further visa applications required) to get permanent residency. To be honest, I find it all a bit baffling. I know so many people who have spent inordinate amounts of time and money to study in the UK, pay international university fees (which are really expensive!), work there professionally, pay taxes there, and generally pump money into the British economy, but at every turn the Home Office seems to say "why don't you just go back to where you came from?" Surely this is going to be bad for Britain in the long run, even in the most cynical actuarial terms (to say nothing of the cultural ones)?

the_mitsuhiko 11y ago
> The hassle and expense of UK immigration law was one reason I moved to Germany When I married my wife (we both have different passports, neither of us are British) we decided to move to Austria, my country of origin because the situation in Britain looked problematic. She would have to apply to visas constantly to get into Schengen (as the UK is outside), the financial requirements for the household are sky-high (income of 18.600 GBP post taxes or access to 65.000 GBP on an account) and you would need to have that every 2.5 years. Money would not even be the problem, but the fear of this getting worse or that you might lose the job for some time really does with your brain. Especially the worry that if the UK would leave the EU, British citizenship would not help my wife either and we would again be left with different citizenships and different travel rules.