Is my path to residency in Netherlands screwed by Brexit?

Hi Chris and welcome to the Forum.

Brexit, in whatever form it ends up, is still up in the air and the only thing useful I've learnt from the politicians of all sides is that nothing is agreed until the deal is agreed.  Anyone who tells you differently is making things up to suit their own position in the matter and that all the forecasts as to what will happen have ranged between at best indifferent, or just wrong.  That includes what I'm about to say next.

My own opinion is that short of the UK building a Trump-like wall between the British Isles and the rest of Europe, nothing much will change except for the cost of trading (either up or down, depending on what side of the fence you find yourself on 29 March  2019).  People will still need to trade, travel etc and sport will still be a major part of many people's life.  The Dutch currently (well, 2016, it's the last set of agreed figures) sell 40 bn Euros of trade to the UK and the UK is currently the worlds 3rd biggest direct investor in Holland.  I suspect that number one on their agenda is preserving as much of that as they can.  These are the facts, the people who tell you differently have a personal interest (mainly to get re-elected, or preserve their millions).

The only things we know is that as it stands now, you have the right to live and work anywhere in the EU; that may change in the future.  If that change is going to screw you up, then you need to have a plan for what to do next.  If the UK is benign to the EU workers currently working in the UK, then do you think the EU will do anything differently?

The Dutch Government have issued there own ‘snapshot’ of the economic interlinks between the UK/NL, you can find it at this link; it's worth a read.

Not sure if I've helped much, but I hope this has helped a bit.

If you have any further specific questions, please come back to us.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hi Cynic,

Love the handle by the way.
I appreciate your response and the link you've sent - I'll read that in depth later.  The frustrating thing is the UK seem to be making a "list" of things they don't want, and grandiose public speeches by different members of the front bench contradicting each other, rather than providing any clarity so I can decide what the appropriate way forward.

I'm quietly confident that Brexit will just die a long, slow death under the weight of its own complexity and insoluble problems. 

Thanks,
Chris.