WHILE some may be contemplating moves abroad, or applying for any additional passports they might have claim to, those already living in EU countries have another decision to make: will I stay or will I go?
Like EU citizens living in the UK, those who stay will need to apply for permanent residence status in their host country once they have lived there for five years.
For Rosie McClune, who previously toured with all-girl rock band the Hedrons and moved to Sweden almost five years ago, it’s not been an easy call.
“Glasgow gave me everything,” she told the Sunday National. “I was lucky enough to tour constantly for a few years, played big gigs and festivals, release albums and singles. But I felt like I had gone as far as I could and I’d just come out of a relationship so was looking for a change.”
READ MORE: With the Brexit bomb ticking, these Scots have looked to Canada
She’s been to Gothenburg a few times, loved the city “and met some great people”. So she went over to run recording studio Spinroad Studios and set up a record label. “We just opened the only vinyl pressing factory in Sweden too so it’s going great,” she adds.
She’s held on to her Glasgow flat and says she always intended to move back “when I felt like I was done here”. She adds: “I’ve come very close a couple of times, I guess due to homesickness and missing everything.
“But there is no way I would move back to the UK with where it’s heading right now. Watching how awful it is from the outside and being directly affected by it is enraging, especially when Scotland didn’t vote for it and is now being dragged out anyway.
“There’s been so much uncertainty with Brexit – one of the things I know is that I wouldn’t be able to move anywhere else in the EU after it happens. I don’t want that freedom to be taken from me.”
In just a few months she will be eligible to apply for a Swedish passport, and she’s decided to apply.
“All of my UK friends here have done it, even if they’ve lived here for 25 years,” she says.
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