Post-Brexit residency rights being stripped from elderly Britons in Sweden
Several long-term British residents of Sweden, including elderly and vulnerable people, are facing deportation after missing the deadline to apply for post-Brexit residency status. Campaigners say Sweden's refusal rate is far higher than in any other EU country.
A number of elderly British citizens who have lived in Sweden for decades are facing removal orders after failing to apply in time for residency status following Brexit. Among those affected is a 74-year-old man with vascular dementia and parkinsonism, who has lived in Sweden for 25 years and is now in full-time care. A Swedish migration court ruled that the state's interest in regulating immigration outweighed his private life and integration into the country, deeming his deportation proportionate. A similar fate has befallen a 78-year-old widow who has lived in Sweden for 21 years and recently lost her appeal against an order to leave within four weeks.
Sweden far stricter than other EU states
A representative of the campaign group British in Sweden said such outcomes were never the intended result of the UK-EU withdrawal agreement. According to the latest available figures, from 2024, around 14,000 applications for post-Brexit residency were made in Sweden, of which 27.5% were refused — three times higher than any other EU member state and well above the EU average of 3-4%.
Part of the problem stems from Sweden's choice, along with 12 other countries including the UK, to adopt a "constitutive" system requiring EU citizens to actively apply to retain residency, rather than a "declaratory" system like Spain's, where registering presence was sufficient.
Political inaction
Swedish politicians say they are legally barred from intervening in decisions made by the migration agency, complicating efforts to address the issue. The UK government has repeatedly raised concerns about Sweden's strict approach, but the situation has not changed in years. Two years ago, a woman with Alzheimer's disease also faced deportation; her case was paused and never resolved before she died.
Affected residents say they were never clearly informed of the need to apply after Brexit. Sweden's migration authority says simply being unaware of the requirement is not considered sufficient grounds. Similar cases emerged in Denmark in 2022, but the Danish government acknowledged shortcomings in communication and changed the law to give Britons another chance to secure residency rights.
