Two per cent of Britons have applied for EU passport since Brexit vote

Number seeking dual nationality expected to increase after Boris Johnson’s 11th-hour trade deal

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 28: Border Force check the passports of passengers arriving at Gatwick Airport on May 28, 2014 in London, England. Border Force is the law enforcement command within the Home Office responsible for the security of the UK border by enforcing immigration and customs controls on people and goods entering the UK. Border Force officers work at 140 sea and airports across the UK and overseas. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

The UK’s Border Force officers check the passports of passengers arriving at Gatwick Airport, London, before freedom of movement with the EU ended. Getty

Neil Murphy

Jan 13, 2021

Two per cent of Britons have applied for an EU passport since the 2016 Brexit referendum, according to a new study.

Immigration experts Astons surveyed more than 2,000 UK citizens and asked them whether they had sought a passport for an EU state since the UK voted to leave the bloc. Only 2 per cent of those surveyed said they had.

But the study found that up to 8 per cent of respondents are now seeking alternative citizenship after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's trade deal with Brussels in December.

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The number in Northern Ireland is far higher, with 13 per cent having applied for a second passport and 28 per cent planning to do so. People born in the province before 2005 can hold citizenship of Ireland, an EU member state.

Many respondents said they hoped to retain the benefits of EU membership, particularly for holidays.

Britons are entitled to 90 days’ visa-free travel over a 180-day period. Freedom of movement within the bloc ended on January 1.

Thirty-three per cent of those surveyed said they wanted a new passport to maintain ease when travelling for leisure, while 32 per cent wanted to continue to identify as British without losing the benefits of EU citizenship.

Fifteen per cent said they no longer wished to identify as a UK citizen, while 12 per cent who applied for another passport did so because they had the option to do so. Five per cent said a second passport would make business travel easier.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 22, 2019 Banners, Union and EU flags are displayed outside the Houses of Parliament in London on October 22, 2019, as MPs debate the second reading of the Government's European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill. The UK and European Union will on December 30 sign a mammoth trade pact to put the seal on their drawn-out Brexit divorce in the dwindling hours before they part ways definitively at the dawning of 2021. / AFP / Tolga Akmen / TO GO WITH STORY BY JITENDRA JOSHI — Union and EU flags outside the Houses of Parliament as lawmakers debated Britain's withdrawal from the EU. AFP.

Arthur Sarkisian, managing director of Astons, said Brexit prompted millions of British people to take on an EU nationality.

“The UK has certainly been divided by the EU referendum but it would seem as though while many have claimed or enquired about a second passport, those following through on acquiring one equate to a fairly small percentage of the population.

“Of course, with an estimated 67 million people living in the UK and about six million of those already having foreign nationality, these small percentages still represent quite a large number of those looking for a second passport.”