A British man with serious health conditions has gone into hiding in Sweden after being told he faces deportation, despite claiming government officials assured him three times he needed to do nothing to maintain his residency rights after Brexit.
Mark Smith, 60, who has suffered heart attacks, strokes and chronically high blood pressure, was informed by telephone that he should leave Sweden by 17 October as he was an “alien” without permission to remain. According to The Guardian, he and his Swedish wife Petra have now left their flat in Falkenberg, south-west Sweden, and moved to a caravan park.
“We are in hiding, we daren’t go back to our apartment. We are scared to go out as we don’t know if the police will come and take us,” Smith said. A court ruled on 12 October that a deportation decision would not be suspended, but gave him until 20 October to submit an application for a retrial.
Confusion over residency requirements
Smith has lived in Sweden since 2017. He worked, held private health insurance, supported his wife and registered with the population register run by the national tax authority, as Swedish rules require. However, he was unaware that Sweden was among 13 of the 27 EU member states that required Britons living in the country before Brexit to submit a formal application to remain. Other countries, such as Spain, simply required residents to declare their status.
Smith said he asked the tax authorities on three separate occasions whether he needed to take action because of Brexit, and was told no. “They said I had to wait for five years to apply for permanent residency,” he explained. “Because it was the tax authority, a government body, I took it for granted that what they told me was correct.”
David Milstead, a British-Swedish volunteer citizens’ rights activist with the Brits in Sweden group, said Smith’s experience was “far from unusual”. He said many British citizens who actively sought information from Swedish authorities received vague or unhelpful responses, sometimes being told they needed to do nothing.
Sweden’s strict deportation policy
Sweden has come under mounting pressure over its approach to the withdrawal agreement, having deported 458 Britons to date. Those removed include a man who had been in the country since the age of ten and a 65-year-old married to a Swede with no family or property in the UK. The country has also issued removal orders to a man with dementia in 24-hour care who has lived in Sweden for 25 years.
Under the legally binding Brexit withdrawal agreement, governments were required to communicate residency rules clearly, consider late applications on reasonable grounds, and exercise proportionate decisions, particularly regarding vulnerable people.
Smith’s problems began in 2021 when he fell ill and applied for sickness benefit. Officials told him he should have applied for post-Brexit residency. The couple submitted an application immediately, recalling they did so at the end of 2021, before Sweden’s 31 December 2021 deadline. They waited more than two years for a response, which was a rejection on the grounds they were not married. They married in 2023, having lived together since 2017.
Smith suffered a minor heart attack on Wednesday night. His wife Petra said his health conditions have left him so vulnerable she is unsure “if he will last until Christmas”. She added: “He has been told he can’t drive, he can’t fly – what do they expect him to do? Get up and walk to England?”
What this means for Poles in the UK
This case serves as a stark warning about the importance of understanding and meeting post-Brexit residency requirements, even when official guidance appears contradictory or insufficient. While the UK operated a different system to Sweden – the EU Settlement Scheme, which allowed applications until 30 June 2021 – the consequences of missing deadlines or receiving incorrect advice can be equally severe.
Polish citizens in the UK who have not yet applied for settled or pre-settled status should check their immigration position urgently, even if they believe they were given advice that they did not need to act. Those who missed the 2021 deadline may still apply if they have reasonable grounds, such as not being aware of the requirement or having a physical or mental condition that prevented them from applying on time.
The UK government’s approach has generally been more lenient than Sweden’s, but proper documentation remains essential. Anyone uncertain about their status should seek advice from a qualified immigration adviser or contact the EU Settlement Resolution Centre. The official UK government website (gov.uk) provides detailed guidance on settlement status and late applications. Unlike Smith’s situation, family connection is not required under the UK scheme – any EU citizen who was resident before 31 December 2020 should have been eligible to apply.
