Briton threatened with deportation from Sweden over Brexit rules goes into hiding

Mark Smith, who is married to a Swedish woman, says he was told three times he needed to do nothing in order to remain after Brexit

A seriously ill British man living in Sweden has been forced into hiding amid fears he will be deported as a result of what he says is a government Brexit residency error.

Mark Smith, 60, who has had hearts attacks, strokes, severe headaches and chronically high blood pressure that has been difficult to treat, was told on the phone he should leave Sweden by 17 October as he was an “alien” without permission to stay.

Terrified of deportation, he and his wife have moved out of their home in Falkenberg, in south-west Sweden, 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 decision on deportation would not be suspended but gave him until 20 October to “submit his application for a retrial” in relation to “the grounds for the decision on indefinite deportation”.

Smith has been in Sweden since 2017 and says he was told by authorities he did not need to do anything to stay after Brexit in 2020. He worked, had private health insurance, supported his wife and registered on the population register administered by the national tax authority, as required under Swedish rules.

He was unaware, however, that Sweden was among 13 of the 27 EU member states that required Britons living in the country before Brexit to make a formal application to remain. Other countries, such as Spain, did not opt for that system and just required Britons to declare they were a resident.

Smith said: “I asked the tax authorities three times on different occasions if I had to do anything because of Brexit and they said no, telling me I had to wait for five years to apply for permanent residency.

“Because it was the tax authority, a government body, I took it for granted that what they told me was correct,” he added.

David Milstead , a British-Swedish volunteer citizens’ rights activist working through the Brits in Sweden group, said Smith’s case was typical of many Britons living in Sweden.

Milstead said: “Mark’s experience is far from unusual. I have encountered many British citizens who actively sought information from the Swedish authorities about their residence rights after Brexit, only to receive vague, unhelpful answers, sometimes being told that they needed to do nothing.”

They include the 78-year-old widow Joyce Thomas , whose husband also inquired about Brexit residency and was told by the tax authorities there was nothing to do, and who is now fighting a removal order.

Smith had a minor heart attack on Wednesday night but wanted his situation publicised because he said the British government needed to know what was happening to expats in Sweden, “not just to me but others”.

His wife, Petra, said his health conditions had left him so vulnerable she was not sure “if he will last until Christmas”.