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‘It’s like a death sentence’ says British widow facing deportation from Sweden
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2026
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The referendum was in 2016.
Let's pretend she spent 4 years living under a rock and didn't hear anything till the papers were signed.
She had 2 years to apply for residence from Brexit in Januari 2020 to the end of 2021, which would have basically been automatically granted. She didn't. Brexit wasn't exactly the smallest event to happen...
Then, she applied two years late and was told in 2023 she couldn't stay and had to leave. The article is extremely silent on whether she appealed.
She ignored everything for three more years.
Now, in 2026 she was told she's getting kicked out, and is pretending it's everyone's fault but her own, and crying its all too sudden.
She has had 6 years to do something. She has literally nobody to blame but herself. Over 2300 days in which to do literally anything, but nope.
I do think her age kind of comes into play here though and warrants some leniency.
Yeah, we should give her a couple years to get her paperwork in order. If she doesn't, give her some time to get her life together and move back to her home country.
Oh wait, that already happened and she's used up that grace period.
It sounds like there wasn't a proper follow up and with her husband's death, she simply wasn't aware. I have elderly family members that I could see finding themselves in the same situation, cognitively I mean, they are all in country. I barely keep on top of things myself tbh.
Rules are rules and all but it sounds a bit harsh.
Why did it take a year to apply after finding out she needed to apply?
I'm like the king of procrastination, but c'mon
I don't. Retired people have nothing better to do, and can get any appointment that is available at any point. 70 years aren't dementia riddled moving corpses, they can pick up a phone.
I'm shocked at this lack of empathy by, well, almost all of you in this thread.
Y'all act like Republicans.
She had 4 years of warning, 2 years of time to make the request, and since she heard she couldn't stay, she's had 3.5 years to do it.
Isn't that extremely lenient already?
she is 78 you ignorant fk.
Seems like people this old shouldn't be running countries then?
No shit, but she's also not running a country either
✌️
So, how much leniency would you think is a good amount? What would you suggest happen?
A few more letters in the last months before maybe? Actually contacting the person a bit before the real consequences hit, just out of consideration.
she should be granted residency in Sweden.
Tell that to Brexit. Cause that is what was decided for everyone else as well.
So, the solution to this Brexit problem was to not do Brexit. Yeah, entirely true.
She was 68 when this started. Even 78 is too young to automatically assume senility related inability to cope with the situation.