Anna Amato was only two when she relocated with her parents 55 years ago from Italy to Britain.
Since then, she has resided in Britain, attending school and university, working in a number of employment and paying taxes. She has always resided in West England’s town of Bristol, marrying a British husband and raising two British kids.
Like thousands of European Union citizens who, after living in the nation for centuries, have made Britain their home, Amato has always thought that she has gained the legal right to permanently settle.
But there was no agreement from the government. Last year, the Ministry of Interior dismissed her application for permanent residency, stating she did not have sufficient proof to document her status.
She was devastated.
“You are in your country, it is a democracy, all of a sudden you are told after this time no one knows what is going to happen to you,” Amato, 57, told reporters. “Where do I go? It is really, really scary.”
Amato is one of a increasing number of EU nationals denied the right to live in Britain permanently before leaving the bloc, presently planned for October 31.
UK membership of the EU has ensured the right of people of the bloc to live and work in the nation for centuries. But as Britain is preparing to break relations with Brussels after 46 years, EU citizens must apply to stay on a new legal lifeline, known as established status.
Under the plans of the government, EU citizens who can prove that they have lived in Britain continuously for five years will be granted settled status, giving them the same rights to work, study and benefits that they currently hold.
But journalists have spoken to six EU nationals, including a top French chef, who have been denied settled status despite having to qualify automatically through ongoing residency.
Many EU citizens are worried that they might lose the right to free health care or work. Others are concerned about how if they travel overseas they will prove they have the right to return.
EU migrants ‘ destiny has been further confused by the government’s announcement this month that, in the case of a no-deal Brexit, their automatic right to live and work in Britain will end suddenly – and earlier than expected.
The issues faced by EU nationals were asked to demonstrate their status suddenly mirrors the Windrush scandal, in which British citizens of Caribbean descent were denied privileges despite living in the nation legally for centuries. Some have lost employment, others have been deported incorrectly.
Virendra Sharma, an opposition Labor Party lawmaker and a supporter of the pro-EU campaign group Best for Britain, said the situation of Amato was a sign that the state is unprepared for such a dramatic revision of the immigration scheme.
“Anna’s story is a tragic one,” he said. “How can somebody who has given so much of their life to the UK, who went to school here and got married here, have their existence in this country wiped? I think most people would say that can’t be right.”
In 2017, Amato, who is talking with a smooth Bristol accent, started attempting to unravel her immigration status. It was a year since Britain voted to leave the EU and the government promised to tighten immigration rules for the people of the bloc. She spent approximately three months compiling records for settled status applications. They included tax returns, bank statements, skills, and amount of social security, known as a national insurance number in Britain.
Amato ran a pizza takeaway for nearly 20 years in a career spanning nearly 40 years and also worked as a personal assistant and counselor. Amato, who says she’s apolitical, estimates she’s paid in taxes over half a million pounds ($615,000).
She packed a box by the moment she had completed gathering records, which was so heavy that posting cost her 35 pounds.
But the Ministry of the Interior denied her request, stating that she had “failed to show you have a permanent right of residence in the UK,” according to a letter seen by journalist.
Amato then produced a series of frenzied ministry calls and sent nearly a dozen emails complaining that a error had occurred. So far, the government has refused to alter its choice.
In one email which particularly riles Amato, a government official told her she had failed to prove herself as, “a qualified person either as a worker, a self-employed person, a student, a jobseeker, or a self-sufficient person”. “It is so insulting,” she said, wiping away tears. “You know we all need a basic need to feel a sense of belonging, wherever we are.”
“All of a sudden, they snatch it away from you. You become unstable. It gives you anxiety, stress, you know it affects every aspect of your life. It is so upsetting,” she said.
According to the Interior Ministry, Amato had not reapplied under its EU Settlement Scheme and had told her where to get help with the process.
In January this year, the state introduced its EU settlement scheme to register EU citizens.
One of the most important issues in the Brexit talks was the status of British and EU nationals living in the areas of each other, which has been dragging on for the past three years.
Both parties have pledged not to lose any rights to settled people.
Boris Johnson said he wished to thank EU citizens residing in Britain for their contribution in his first declaration to parliament after becoming prime minister in July and pledged to make sure they could stay after Brexit.
But Daniel Hannan, a prominent European Parliament Brexit supporter and Conservative legislator, called on the government to do more, stating that he had been contacted in his constituency by EU nationals who had been denied long-term residency.
“This is a breach of the assurances I and other Leavers gave during the referendum,” he said. “Please help sort this out.”
The government had recommended approximately 3.5 million EU citizens residing in Britain until recently that they had to register in order to maintain their freedoms until December 2020. Only about one million individuals have applied so far.
After applying previously this month with the assistance of his former British spouse, Richard Bertinet, a known French chef who has resided in Britain for the previous 31 years, was refused settled status.
Bertinet, who has written two award-winning cookbooks, appeared on cookery television programs and set up a bakery that supplies upmarket supermarket chain Waitrose, said he had only been granted pre-settled status.
He was granted the right to remain until 2024, when he will have to reapply for settled status. “It is painful and embarrassing,” he told reporters. “I have spent more time in my life in this country than in France.”
Bertinet said he’s more afraid of vulnerable individuals, like the bad English speakers or the elderly.
“There are going to be a lot of tears for a lot of people.”
In reaction to a request for comment, the Ministry of the Interior said that it was in contact with Bertinet to assist him provide proof of established status. Proving residency for stay-at-home parents or caregivers can be particularly hard even if they have lived in Britain for years.
Amato says she’s not sure she’s going to apply to verify her residency status again-and she’s just going to cope with the implications.
Through her British husband, she could apply for citizenship. But the concept of getting to sit an English and history exam and pay more than a thousand pounds to get citizenship after living in Britain for over half a century offends her.
“I resent the fact I have to apply for settlement in my own country. If I apply again, I am enabling the system,” she said. “What is next? A badge, branding?”
Amato claims that her Italian dad, who later had dementia and died in March, would be angry about how EU migrants are treated. He moved his family to Britain in 1964, when Britain was looking for employees overseas, to work in a factory producing washing machines.
“He loved the UK because he thought it was a fair and decent nation. He was proud to be here,” she said. “I feel betrayed.”