Living and working in Italy after Brexit, what you need to know

One of the things that my family and friends visiting in Italy often ask me is what will it be like living in Italy after Brexit, since I've been living here since 2002.
So here goes.....
Since the UK decided to remove itself  from the EU, those of us on an UK passport have been wondering what the next two years will be like and indeed weather the years following the exit will be difficult for Expats.
The truth is that nobody really knows until Britain finally declares its hand clearly and since Corona virus hit in Febuary 2020 thats been the government's primary focus. 
What we do know is this:

AT PRESENT: 
*When a person on a UK passport passes through any EU passport, you wave your burgundy covered passport and they take a cursory look at the photo page and the expiry, and wave you through.

* You are also entitled to freedom of movement, which means you can go to any of the EU countries, register for a tax code and residence and register for the Health service card and be entitled to live and work in that country, *providing you can find a job of course ( But more about that later)

* As a UK citizen you are part of that system, which is why 75,000 young Italians are living and working in London alone  UK with full access to  the NHS. ( The real number of Italians living in UK is said to be over a million, No records of registration were kept.
 no questions asked. ( UK HAS NO ID CARD AS YET).
* Italy on the other hand, requires you as a foreigner to get a codice fiscale if you come here on a UK passport and to register at the anagrafe, municipality, and to get an ID BOOK. Subsequently, you'll receive access to the state health service.
before the Prodi government Italy required even EU citizens to get a permesso, then they woke up to the fact that they were part of the EU and that they had to give reciprocal rights to EU citizens and did away with that system. Hence the very discriminatory words you will hear all the time in Italy. *Communitari and ex-Communitari .

*Communitari means EU.

*EX Communitari refers to all the countries outside of the European Community. i.e. USA, Australia, Canada, South Africa  etc. ( but more usually is used as a term of discrimination about African and Arab countries, and in particular, those who come illegally by boat).

It's very clear that having an EU passport has huge advantages, and that the residence or study   permits that many people get to come to Italy from outside Europe are not easy to get.
This has put a huge burden on the state to control marriages of convenience for those who want to marry an Italian just to get the Burgundy passport.

 Recently getting Italian citizenship which was automatic in the past on marriage, is not the same. The waiting period is two years for EU citizens upon marriage to an Italian, and five years for non Europeans. Getting married in Italy as a resident is no picnic either, I did it. ( I will do a  follow up post on that too)
Citizenship can be applied for without marriage to an Italian after five years of continual legal residence for Europeans( quite rare that a European would take up Italian Citizenship and relinquish their own), or 10 years continuous legal residence for non-Europeans. UK citizens who wish to take dual citizenship and are not married to Italians, will now have to wait the required 10 years of residence since they are no longer EU. 
Getting citizenship is a long and winding process and expensive too, requiring an Italain language test  and  recent police reports from all the countries lived in and all birth and other documents to be translated.

I will do a follow up post on Citizenship another time.

AFTER BREXIT:  

*Will all the  tens of thousands young people from Italy be allowed to stay there and get full state benefits and full state  health cover? The British Government assures us it wont kick out EU residents presently resident there. But when does that date start, At the declaration of Article or in  Dec 2020 when UK officially  leaves?
  Will this prompt a mass exodus of European people who always wanted to live in UK and realise they have to get in before the cut off.
*Britain hopes to bring in limits on claiming state health benefits, and has already made moves to implement this. This means that the present form that all Europeans carry with them entitling them to full state medical cover in UK will fall away. Including those with British citizenship resident in Italy of course.
*Will this mean that those EU citizens resident in Italy at present, said to number 800,000 be entitled to stay here, under this new reciprocal agreement after Brexit, certain rights are to be guaranteed under the new comune registation for long time UK residents in Italy.
*Will they be entitled to  state medical cover as residents here in Italy if Britain does not give the same cover to Italian Citizens living in Britain?

At present nobody knows the answer to these crucial questions. We have waiting and hoping.
There are four choices facing those who have lived here over ten years.

* Go back home

*Get Italian Citizenship ( takes some years, and proof of income is required)

* Go and live somewhere else (not so easy once over 50, other countries are not so keen on taking on people unlikely to find work)

*Hang on and see what happens, when the withdrawal agreement kicks in in December 2020

Which choice have you made? Leave us a comment  and if you haven't made a choice yet,  leave us a comment with the questions you want to ask about your future here in Italy.

Copyright 2020  A.J. Reiss,  Image copyright Bigpressphoto.

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