A 78-year-old British widow living in Sweden says she is facing an uncertain future after Swedish authorities ordered her to leave the country over a residence application she failed to submit following Brexit.
Joyce Thomas, a retired nurse, moved to Sweden with her late husband 22 years ago. Her husband died from cancer three years ago, and she has since built her life around her family, friends and community in the country.
Thomas said she was unaware that she and her husband were required to formally apply for residence status after the United Kingdom left the European Union.
She only discovered the requirement in 2023 when she attempted to return to Sweden. Since then, several applications and appeals have been rejected.
Swedish migration authorities informed her last month that she had until Tuesday, September 8, to leave the country voluntarily.
Thomas said the uncertainty has severely affected her wellbeing, telling the BBC that she struggles to sleep and eat because she does not know what will happen to her.
Her lawyers are continuing to challenge the deportation order, while she waits for the Swedish government to decide whether any intervention can be made in her case.
The prospect of leaving Sweden has been particularly distressing for Thomas because it would mean being separated from her son, grandchildren and friends, while also leaving behind her late husband’s grave.
Swedish Migration Minister Johan Forssell said the government was examining whether measures could be introduced to make the process easier for people affected by certain consequences of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
He said the government believed the rules should be applied generously and stressed that Britain remains an important partner for Sweden. He also said authorities were working to establish what options might be available for British citizens affected by the situation.
The issue stems from Brexit. When the UK formally left the EU in January 2020, British citizens lost their automatic right to reside in Sweden as EU citizens. A transitional period allowed eligible British nationals to apply for residence status under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, but the application period ended on December 31, 2021.
Thomas maintains that she and her husband did not know they needed to apply.
Her case comes amid wider concerns over British nationals facing similar problems in Sweden. Eurostat figures show that 2,490 UK citizens were ordered to leave Sweden between 2021 and 2025, representing almost one-third of the more than 7,500 British nationals ordered to leave EU member states during the same period.
Swedish authorities have also previously confirmed that hundreds of British citizens have been deported or forcibly removed from the country since Brexit.
Thomas’s case has attracted support from her local opposition MP, Håkan Svenneling, who criticised Sweden’s migration policies and called for changes that would allow British citizens with strong connections to the country to remain.
The UK government has also welcomed Sweden’s decision to examine the situation and said it is prepared to support the Swedish authorities in finding possible solutions.
For Thomas, however, the uncertainty remains, with the elderly widow saying she is exhausted after more than two decades of making Sweden her home.
