Brexit Forces 78-Year Old Widow Out of Sweden After 21 Years of Residency

Joyce Thomas, a 78-year-old retired British nurse who has lived in Sweden for 21 years, has been given four weeks to leave the country after her post‑Brexit residency applications were rejected under rules brought in after the UK left the EU.

Under the EU‑UK Withdrawal Agreement, British nationals living in an EU country before the Brexit transition period ended on 31 December 2020 were entitled to apply for permanent residence. The agreement protected the rights of eligible British citizens already living in the EU before Brexit took full effect.

But unlike some EU countries that granted residency status automatically, Sweden required British citizens to actively apply for a post‑Brexit residence permit.

Missed Deadline Leads To Rejected Residency

Thomas and her late husband missed the deadline and only learned in 2022 that they were required to apply. By then, the application window had already closed.

Article 18 of the Withdrawal Agreement allows late applications where reasonable grounds exist. But Sweden's Migration Agency, Migrationsverket, rejected Thomas's explanation, ruling that simply being unaware of the requirement was not sufficient justification.

Thomas's late application was rejected in 2024. A subsequent application to remain in Sweden under domestic immigration rules was also refused.

British officials have described Sweden's stance as unusually severe, calling it 'inexplicably hardline' and markedly stricter than the approach taken elsewhere in the EU.

Widow Fights To Escape 'Unbearable Limbo'

Now facing removal from the country where her son and grandchildren live, and where her husband is buried in Hammarö, Thomas is pursuing several avenues to remain in Sweden.

She is appealing the decision to a higher court with the help of pro bono lawyers and has asked Swedish authorities to consider her case on humanitarian grounds, citing her age, 21 years of residence and close family ties. The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has also raised her case with Swedish authorities and the European Commission.

Supporters say her circumstances merit humanitarian consideration. Thomas is 78 and recently widowed, and her husband had handled much of the couple's household administration. She also moved from a house into a flat to be closer to her family. Her supporters point to her clean criminal and driving records and say she has supported herself financially throughout her 21 years in Sweden.

Thomas has described the experience as an 'unbearable limbo', saying she fears losing both her home and her support network at a vulnerable stage of life.

Critics Challenge Sweden's Strict Application of Rules

Campaigners argue that Sweden has taken an 'overly technical interpretation' of the Withdrawal Agreement's safeguards for late applications.

In other jurisdictions, including under the UK's own version of the scheme, reasonable grounds can include a lack of mental capacity, being a victim of modern slavery or domestic abuse, or being a child whose guardians failed to apply on their behalf.

Sweden, however, has not accepted a lack of awareness of the deadline as comparable grounds.

One Widow Among 2,500 Britons Ordered To Leave

Thomas's case is far from isolated. She is one of roughly 2,500 British citizens ordered to leave Sweden since Brexit.

Another case involved Kathleen Poole, a 74-year-old British woman with Alzheimer's who was living in a Swedish care home. She was threatened with deportation over incomplete paperwork.

Police initially moved to arrange a care home for her in the UK despite her condition. The figures underline Sweden's status as an outlier in enforcing post‑Brexit residency rules.

Sweden accounts for roughly one‑third of all removal orders issued against British citizens across the 27 EU member states since 2021. Its residency application refusal rate is 27.5%, about three times higher than in any other EU country and well above the bloc‑wide average of 3% to 4%.

Between January 2021 and September 2022, Sweden issued 1,050 orders for Britons to leave the country. The Netherlands issued 615, followed by Malta with 115, France with 95, Belgium with 65 and Germany with 25. Spain, Italy and Portugal issued none.

British officials say they cannot directly override decisions by Swedish courts. MPs including Peter Kyle have nevertheless urged Sweden to handle cases such as Thomas's with greater fairness and compassion.

Brexit's Wider Fallout for EU and UK Residents

Brexit effectively reclassified British citizens living in the EU, and EU citizens living in the UK, as 'third‑country nationals'. Those who fell outside the Withdrawal Agreement's protections, often because they missed deadlines or failed eligibility checks, became subject to stricter domestic immigration rules on both sides.

The UK has also taken a tough approach to EU citizens. More than 5,000 were held in immigration detention in 2017, while operations between 2015 and 2017 targeted EU nationals sleeping rough. The High Court later ruled the practice unlawful.

Post‑Brexit rules have since made rough sleeping a potential ground for revoking residency status.

For Thomas, the outcome of her appeal will determine whether she can remain close to her family and her husband's resting place. After two decades in Sweden, she could instead be required to return to a country she left behind long ago.