- Home » Expat News » Citizenship
Expat Citizenship News
Latest 10 news items tagged Citizenship
15 Feb at 6 PM 2019
Expats fuelling population growth in New Zealand
New Zealand’s population is set to hit five million by 2020, and it’s mostly down to increasing numbers of expat arrivals. The total population of New Zealand reached 4.9 million by the end of September 2018, with the upswing continuing at the rate of one person every five minutes! According to data released by Statistics New Zealand, in the year from September 2017 to September 2018, 66 per cent of the 90,000 population increase was via migration to the country. Over the past five years, the dominant driver of population growth...
15 Feb at 6 PM 2019
Expats in UAE queuing up for second passports and permanent residency visas
As expatriate professionals’ stability and security in the Arab States become more fragile, those with spare funds are rushing to get second passports. A major reason for choosing one expat relocation destination over others is the stability of the country and the security of the job itself as well as the required work visa. Even the most optimistic foreign workers in the UAE would now have to admit the current concentration on dramatically reducing the numbers of expats employed doesn’t represent security and stability. As a...
14 Feb at 6 PM 2019
Cyprus to protect British expats’ rights in case of no-deal Brexit
Cyprus has assured its UK expat residents their rights will remain should a no-deal Brexit be the final result. The former British colony of Cyprus prior to the island’s independence in 1960 has now reassured its British expat community their rights will be protected in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The island has joined a number of other EU member states in giving at least some security to British expatriates living, working or retiring in popular expat regions. The message was sent to the UK government’s Foreign Secretary...
13 Feb at 6 PM 2019
New Europeans call for signatures on possible solution to Brexit chaos
New Europeans, a pro-EU civil rights group fighting for UK expats’ rights, is urging supporters to sign an open letter containing a plan to break the seemingly endless Brexit deadlock. The letter suggests the EU could offer a three-month Article 50 extension in order to allow a second referendum to take place on 23 May, the same day as the EU parliamentary elections, adding the referendum to the ballot papers. The letter is to be sent to Jeremy Corbyn, Theresa May and the EU’s leading lawmakers, and also calls on the British...
12 Feb at 6 PM 2019
Bremain in Spain chair slams UK media for stereotyping Brit expats
Whilst it’s a positive development that UK media outlets are now publicising the plight of British expats in Spain, it’s counterproductive in its use of hated stereotypes. As the Brexit disaster rolls on, British newspapers are finally waking up to the unavoidable fact that hundreds of thousands of UK expatriates are about to be left with shattered dreams and not much else. However, the media’s use of tired old stereotypes is preventing the real message from getting through, causing even more pain, anger and desperation across...
12 Feb at 6 PM 2019
Brit expats on Spain regret their leave votes whilst Brit ambassador ducks the issue
In a recent BBC Channel 4 News item, British expats in Spain who voted Leave in the referendum admitted they are now bitterly regretting their decisions. Some 300,000 British expats are at present living in Spain, divided into retirees, working professionals, SME owners and students or researchers at Spanish universities. The Channel 4 News report featured a number of Brits settled in and near Alicante on the Costa del Sol, with many admitting they’re now scared for their futures in their chosen country. One interviewee told the...
11 Feb at 6 PM 2019
Saudi king to reimburse SMEs for expat work permit fees
Saudi King Salman has approved reimbursements of around three million dollars to struggling businesses for fees charged for expat work permits as well as cancelling rate hikes for those who couldn’t pay. Since 2017, Saudi companies have been forced to pay swingeing fees for every expat employed, in a bid to persuade firms to stop hiring foreigners and rely on the local population for workers. In addition, the fees are also charged for dependents’ visas, resulting in a high number of families being sent back to their home...
8 Feb at 6 PM 2019
New French law allows Brit expats to stay but cartes de sejour are costly
The fast -tracked French law giving at least some certainty to UK expats terrified of the effects of a no-deal Brexit is on the statue books as of today. A new French law passed as an emergency has now established residency for British expats living in France on Brexit day, and applies specifically to a no-deal Brexit. However, should the UK fail to allow French expats the same rights, it will be cancelled. The law allows a timescale of between three and 12 months for UK expats to get a non-EU citizen ‘carte de sejour’ under...
8 Feb at 6 PM 2019
Can Spanish royal decree save Brit retirees from deportation?
Citizens Advice Bureau Spain’s founder Myra Azzopardi is warning British expats they may well become illegal immigrants on March 30. Under EU law, British expats in Spain are allowed just 90 days’ permission to stay, after which they must register to regularise their status. Should this not be done, they will be regarded as ‘irregular migrants’. Although Azzopardi states that Spain is not able under EU law to expel irregular migrants, it could deport UK expats as illegal aliens in the country. May’s withdrawal deal, rejected...
7 Feb at 6 PM 2019
