Hello dear people of the blogosphere, how are you? I hope you are rocking as I do. It’s Queen’s album “A Night at the Opera” for me on Spotify, and I am having much fun doing my sofa dancing LOL.

I have reason to be jolly because yesterday I got the permission to stay in the UK after Brexit and today I got a beautiful Christmas card from the glorious Cyranny. Thanks so much, my dear. You made my day!

For all those who do not know about the in’s and out’s of being an EU citizen in Brexitland: To be allowed to stay in the UK after the transition period of Brexit, I had to apply to the so-called EU-settlement scheme. It seems to also apply to people from outside the UK, so I am a little confused but never mind. Most people seem to think that being married to a UK national automatically gives me the right to stay, but that’s been scrapped at the time I came here about 13 years ago. The glory days of Britain embracing spouses from other countries are long gone. So is its greatness in my eyes, but that’s another matter.

Let’s go a little back in history. After half of the British population voted to leave the EU, Britain had to come up with a scheme to make an EU person legally stay here. At first, you were supposed to pay a fee of 65£ for the luxury to live here. However, many individuals and groups objected and so they scrapped that. This was in 2019. I refused to apply in those days because… well … because I was pissed off with the whole thing. I still do not understand why on earth you want to leave an organisation that offers you free movement of people, services and things and where you were a major player. With lots of power. I think it’s also the biggest free trading block in the world. Now Britain still has to follow many an EU legislation if they want to trade with the EU but have no say whatsoever in it. But what do I know about the advantages of being an outsider.

This year, I decided to apply but needed a new passport for this. Unfortunately, the Germans are a bit funny when it comes to legal paperwork. I was supposed to go to the embassy in London with the husband in tow to change my name first (Germany does not accept English name law after which I had changed my name when getting married). Then go back to apply for a passport. That was a bit out of the question with my cancer and the virus and all. I thought I would be able to do it November when my treatment was finished but hey ho another lockdown and I panicked a little.

In the end, I asked if I could get a provisional passport (for which I could apply without going to London) with my old name so that I could apply for the darn scheme. I could. But I needed a certificate from my doctor which said I could not travel and a certification that the signature on the application form was in fact from me. My GP surgery doesn’t do that. ARGH!
Thank goodness, the best husband and I work at a private mental health hospital with doctors attached 😉 . The owner is one of them, and he was so kind to sign off that, in fact, I had applied and not my late grandmother or Pinocchio or whoever…. But don’t hold your breath, the tale isn’t finished yet.

To apply for the settlement scheme, I had to put my passport information via an app to the Homeoffice. Normal passports have a chip from which scanners can read all the information necessary. My provisional passport, of course, does not have this chip. So I had to send my passport to them. Good grief, do I really need all this in 2020??????

I was very worried that they would want a ton of other proof because of my last name trouble, but they didn’t. It got through without a problem. However, I do not have my passport back yet. Well…

I thought I would be ecstatic when this was all sorted. But I only felt sad because it made it so clear that Britain has changed into a country I cannot recognise. And a country I don’t really want to live in anymore. Neither does the best husband. It’s such a shame.

But never mind. Today you are going to have another reading of a poem of mine. This one is inspired by Linda’s “Stream of Consciousness Saturday” prompt “Magnet”. It’s unedited so please bear with me 🙂

Magnifiscient visions of

A Future for us all.

~ Gnawing Doubt ~

Never felt planning so

Electrifying

The Magnet of hope

Please head over to Linda’s to find out suggestions on how to take part. But mostly to find brilliant posts that inspire, entertain and are just great fun.

Happy Saturday to you all despite everything.
Please stay safe, stay kind and remember you rock!