Barbara Hatton was already frustrated with the bureaucratic challenges of business in post-Brexit Britain before her encounter in June with two officers from Border Force, the UK’s immigration enforcement service. When the officers at Heathrow airport wrongly told Hatton, a German citizen, she would need a visa to enter the UK, she says it was the final straw and decided not to maintain a base in the country.
Hatton, who asks to be identified only by an assumed name, was exempt from visa requirements because she had successfully applied for the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), the UK government programme to grant a secure immigration status to European citizens living long-term in the UK. After a protracted argument the officers accepted she had permanent “settled status” and admitted her.
But, says Hatton, the experience left her feeling insecure about her rights. “We’ve been allowed to stay,” she says, “but you are made to feel incredibly not wanted.”