A 78-year-old British widow living in Sweden has lost a court appeal against deportation, more than two decades after she first moved to the country. Joyce Thomas, who has resided in Sweden for 21 years, was told by the administrative court in Luleå that she does not qualify to remain because her residency application was submitted in 2023, after the cut-off date set under the EU-UK withdrawal agreement expired on 31 December 2021.
Speaking from her home on Thursday, Thomas said the ruling had left her distressed and unable to think of anything else.
I am in shock. I feel sick. An individual's life is at stake at my age. It is hell. I have done nothing wrong. I don't take anything from this country. I am self sufficient, I put money in this country, have no criminal record.
The case has drawn attention from officials in both Brussels and London over how Sweden has interpreted the withdrawal agreement, which was designed to safeguard the residency status of British citizens who had settled in an EU member state before Brexit took effect.
Why does the court say she must leave?
The court upheld a decision by Sweden's migration agency that Thomas missed the legal deadline for applying to stay under post-Brexit arrangements, and found no basis to treat her as an exceptional case. Her legal team argued that removing her over an administrative deadline was disproportionate, particularly because Swedish authorities never informed her that an application was required.
Not proportionate for her to be deported solely because she missed a deadline due to insufficient information. Furthermore, it is not acceptable that the Swedish authorities failed to inform her that she needed to file an application and of the deadline by which it was to be filed.
The court's written ruling nonetheless concluded that Thomas did not meet the threshold for special consideration, citing the fact that she spent most of her life in the UK, receives a UK pension and has a son still living there.
No circumstances have come to light that would lead to a determination that, in your situation, you are particularly vulnerable.
What could happen if she does not leave voluntarily?
Thomas is expected to receive a letter from the migration agency giving her four weeks to leave Sweden on her own accord. Should she fail to do so, she faces forced removal along with a re-entry ban and placement on a watchlist that would bar her from entering any Schengen area country for as long as the ban remains active.
For Thomas, the prospect means being separated from her son, her grandchildren, a wide circle of friends and her late husband's grave, which she visits regularly. Her husband died in 2023 from cancer, only four months after a trip back to the UK during which border officials first told the couple they needed to make a formal post-Brexit application to remain in Sweden.
My friends, my husband's burial place, grandchildren, everything is here, and to have to go and start again, it's just unbelievable that at my age I've got to be uprooted for my home.
This is hell. I get up in the morning, it's in my head, I go to bed at night, it's in my head. It's horrible. I mean I have done nothing wrong. I am self sufficient. I put money in the country. I don't take money out. I can't comprehend this.
How widespread is this problem in Sweden?
Thomas's case is not isolated. According to a national newspaper's report, roughly 2,500 British nationals have been ordered to leave Sweden since Brexit, accounting for about a third of all such removal orders issued across the EU's 27 member states since 2021. The same report noted that campaigners and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office have said Sweden has taken an unusually strict approach compared with other EU countries.
Sweden's migration authority has said that late applications can only be accepted in exceptional circumstances, and that simply not knowing about the registration requirement does not meet that bar, according to the same report. Thomas's initial late application was rejected in 2024 for lacking sufficient grounds, and a subsequent attempt made under Sweden's national immigration law was also turned down.
Is this linked to other British residents facing removal?
Sweden's tough stance has affected other long-term British residents. Just days before Thomas's ruling, a 74-year-old dementia patient requiring full-time care was given just 10 days to leave Sweden after losing his own post-Brexit residency appeal, despite having lived in the country for 25 years. A Swedish appellate court ruling in July found that the state's interest in maintaining controlled immigration outweighed his care needs, according to a further report by the same newspaper, illustrating how consistently Swedish courts have applied the residency rules even in cases involving serious vulnerability.
David Milstead of the campaign group British in Sweden argued that such outcomes were never the intention behind the withdrawal agreement and called for concrete action rather than statements of sympathy.
It would be difficult to find anyone who would argue that what is happening to Mrs Thomas and others in Sweden was an intended outcome of the withdrawal agreement. Problems will inevitably emerge when a new treaty is put into practice. However, the UK, EU and Sweden must act to address them. Words and expressions of concern won't cut it.
Thomas maintains that she and her husband were never contacted about the requirement despite Swedish authorities holding their identification and contact details.
The Swedish authorities have our ID cards, they have our emails, we heard nothing.
What happens next?
Thomas's case is expected to move to a higher court, with pro bono lawyers now assisting her legal challenge, according to a further source tracking the case. Under article 18 of the EU-UK withdrawal agreement, late applications can still be permitted where 'reasonable grounds' for missing the deadline are demonstrated, and this provision is likely to form the basis of any further appeal. Should the appeal fail, the migration agency retains the power to enforce a removal order and impose a re-entry ban restricting her from returning to any Schengen country while it remains in force.
Key Facts
- Joyce Thomas, 78, has lived in Sweden for 21 years and has lost her appeal against a deportation order.
- The administrative court in Luleå ruled she missed the 31 December 2021 deadline for post-Brexit residency applications.
- Around 2,500 British nationals have been ordered to leave Sweden since Brexit, roughly a third of such orders across the EU.
- A separate case involving a 74-year-old dementia patient given 10 days to leave Sweden highlights a similar pattern.
- Thomas's case is expected to proceed to a higher court with pro bono legal support.
