While evidence suggests that it is increasingly less common for couples to cross the political divide, the Brexit referendum inevitably caused such divisions for international couples where one partner was British and the other an EU citizen.

The challenges this invoked are documented in a recent study from Lancaster University, which highlights the consequences for mixed British-European families. The research uncovers how the referendum result introduced new and different rights and conditions around residence between partners, children, and parents.

“The survey showed their concerns are often accompanied by strong negative feelings, in consequence of Brexit finding themselves for the first time questioned about their entitlement to live and move in and out of their country of choice based on will and/or need,” the researchers explain.

Complex relations

Obviously, since the Brexit vote, moving to the UK from the EU has become a more complex affair, while British citizens lost their right to freedom of movement. As a result, any decision to move to the EU may be reliant on the status of EU family members.

The so-called “Surinder Singh” option traditionally allowed foreign nationals to settle in the UK if they had British family members living with them in an EU country. This closed on the 31st December 2020, meaning families are exposed to standard immigration controls before being able to settle in the UK.

The researchers surveyed over 2,000 people, consisting of a mixture of British, EU, and non-EU nationals who were living either in the UK or the EU and were part of a mixed-status family.

Uncertain times

For instance, British citizens living in the EU voiced concerns about the precise terms on which they might be able to return to the UK with non-British family members. Some voiced concern about their ability to leave for more than a few months for family situations without encountering visa issues.

“Overall, the picture that emerges shows that, for some, Brexit introduced borders into their lives,” the researchers explain. “Families that previously shared the rights to Free Movement within the EU, remade as mixed-status families with differentiated rights to mobility.

“For other families, who already had mixed migration statuses, Brexit deepened the impacts of the borders on their lives. This reveals further impacts of Brexit at the level of the family, making, fracturing and reconstituting their members’ ties within one or multiple countries and affecting their mobility and settlement options as a family.”