The_Guardian_-_2016-12-29

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EU referendum and Brexit
Dutch woman with two British children told to
leave UK after 24 years
Monique Hawkins decided to apply for citizenship fearing her rights would be diminished after
Britain leaves the EU
Monique Hawkins, who studied at Cambridge University, said the UK was the only place she felt she
could call home. Photograph: Handout
A Dutch woman who has lived in the UK for 24 years, and has two children with her British husband,
has been told by the Home Office that she should make arrangements to leave the country after she
applied for citizenship after the EU referendum.
The story of Monique Hawkins highlights the practical difficulties faced by millions of EU citizens
concerned that they will not have the right to stay in Britain post-Brexit.
Hawkins had considered applying for citizenship before but decided not to as it did not confer any
rights beyond her current EU rights. However, after the referendum she changed her mind, fearful that
those rights would be diminished after Britain leaves the EU.
European citizens marrying Britons do not automatically qualify for UK citizenship under current
rules and Hawkins was concerned that if she did not apply she would be forced “to join a US-style
two-hour immigration queue” while the rest of her family “sail through the UK passport lane”.