Some important information for Brits in Berlin

Some important information for Brits in Berlin

Last night (30Sept) I attended an event for British Nationals at the British Embassy about the current state of Brexit affairs.Some of the information in this post will be known by many, but for those who may have missed it, this information is important if you want to stay in Berlin after Brexit.I took these notes from the presentation of Engelhard Mazanke – Head of the Berlin Foreigners Registration Office.This is the department that is working to register British nationals who are interested to remain in Berlin post-Brexit.*in order to remain indefinitely after Brexit, it is essential to register for residency application.There are 18,000 Brits in Berlin11,800 of these have already registered with the BFROSo this post is for the 6,200 still in limbo …. The important news from last night is this …Should the UK crash out without a deal on Oct 31st, the BFRO residency registration website will be taken down at midnight on that day.After this no more people will be allowed to register for a residency appointment.From what I can tell, the German Government are making a very generous offer and are really doing all they can to help Brits who want to stay. However in order for them to help you, you must register on this site before the end of October, in case the UK leaves without a deal.Here is the link to the site:

You should:

  • make your registration (you will be asked if you have already lived in Berlin for 5 years or more).
  • take a screen grab of your completed document (*important – screen grab your whole screen, so that you show the date of application clearly)
  • print the document and keep it safe.

Once you do these steps you are in the system and you will definitely be invited to an appointment to discuss the best residency arrangement for you, they confirmed this last night. The Government are prioritising people who have already lived in Berlin for 5 years or more and these people will be invited for interview first.This is because the legislation already exists to fast-track the residency of these people and therefore they can be dealt with swiftly.For those of less than 5 years in Berlin (myself included) the news is this ..

  • You will definitely be given an appointment
  • It can come anytime before end of April 2020
  • If you submit an email address in your application, your invitation will come by email
  • If you don’t submit an email address, your invitation will come by posted letter.

*There are over 1,500 people who have already been invited for an interview by BFRO who didn’t show up.The BFRO think that many of their email invitations are landing in spam folders and being missed.Be sure to keep an eye on your spam folder or pre-approve their email address for your in-box.I hope this helps some people

🙂 AN IMPORTANT P.S.The British Government (such as it is) was represented by one Lindsay Appleby – Director of EU Exit at FCO. He made (in my opinion) a bland and uninformative presentation, overlooking many important points, his only real message being that everyone should go to:

He left the event early “to catch a flight” dodging many critical questions, not least about why British citizens living in the EU are still being used as pawns in the negotiations and why our rights have not been ring-fenced. Despite tying to leave early, the crowd became insistent and demanded answers from him.His answers were woefully dismal – “to be honest you just need to look at your own individual circumstances and read the advice online” Pfft.To be fair to him, he was just the messenger. But the message could not have been clearer ….If you think the UK government is going to help you out of this mess, you are mistaken.You are on your own.Every single person in the room last night felt this. Some became very angry, vocal and loud. When it comes to working with Brits living in the EU, our Government continues to be nonchalant, uninformed, dismissive and arrogant. Thank goodness for the patience, maturity and resolve of the German Government in tying to support us in this uncertain time.And as for the ‘PM’ and his motives – I invite you to take a moment to consider this man. (*warning – political rant incoming … )He gained notoriety for being the comedy act, the party stand-up of British politics, but now his actions have taken a decidedly sinister turn.In just 10 weeks in Number 10, he has lost his majority, he lost all 7 recent parliamentary votes, and he lost the judgement of the Supreme Court. He lost the backing of his own brother, and the support of his sister. He stands accused of curtailing democracy, of lying to the Queen, of mis-using parliamentary funds, of sexually harassing reporters and of using brutal language in the commons with the specific intent of stirring up anger and political violence. And still he threatens to ignore the law and refuse the send the letter to the EU requesting extension. If you think this man has the capability or intention of doing anything to help you remain in Europe, think again. It is his direct intension to crash out on the 31st. You need to help yourself and get your registration into the hands of the German Government, clearly the only adults in the room:

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