Didn’t Boris Johnson once say Brexit would be too “fiddly”?
That’s quite an understatement for Britons in Italy who are disappearing into a bureaucratic black hole. Right now some are left without healthcare cover or being forced to pay €2000 for it when they shouldn’t be paying at all.
One or two individuals have had consular assistance; otherwise there is no public information, no guidance to public offices, no support system… to help with a whole host of Withdrawal Agreement breaches.
UK citizens in Italy have been stuck in a Brexit quagmire for three years. Even appealing to the European Commission has not improved things. Why is no one listening? Perhaps the answers lie in what a journalist told me back in 2021; being brutally honest he said the confusing bureaucratic problems of others are just not interesting and most people don’t care. And whilst many of us have now got our UK vote back, there are no elected representatives for Britons abroad who could be our best chance of getting some understanding.
Sheer frustration has led to one British woman in Italy to write to Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, speaking up for others. (See below). We await a reaction.
Clarissa Killwick, English teacher, citizens’ rights campaigner and volunteer, Italy
Open letter to Lord Cameron
Dear Lord Cameron,
State healthcare contributions — Italy
I am a 74-year-old British citizen, modern languages graduate, teacher and writer who has lived in Italy since 2005. I write to you as a member of the support group “UK Citizens’ Rights in Italy – Beyond Brexit”. I would not be appealing to you if we were not feeling desperate and if I did not think that you might be able to help us. British citizens in Italy, as elsewhere in the EU, have faced many bureaucratic nightmares since Brexit. Currently, we have a two-fold problem concerning the so-called voluntary contributions that allow those who are not working, not yet permanent residents or do not have an S1 to access state healthcare:
1) Many Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries are unable to prove their permanent residency status and are having to pay. This is not a new problem but the minimum contribution was dramatically increased this year to €2,000 from €387.
2) On 8 March 2024, the UK government announced that the Italian government has decided that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries no longer have to pay voluntary contributions but payments of the new minimum of €2,000 are still being demanded.
To demonstrate the gravity of this, here is a comment from a fellow member of our group:
“I feel completely alone in trying to get help. My cancer medication runs out in two weeks. I have permanent residency but cannot prove it and the announcement from the UK government on 8th March is not helping as my health authority is not aware of it so are demanding I pay €2,000. I will have to pay as otherwise I have no health cover and private health insurance would be prohibitive, as I mostly live on my pension.”
Permanent residency can be evidenced in two ways:
- With a certificate of permanent residence (a document for EU citizens). The Ministry of the Interior has stated that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries can still obtain this from town halls but many are refusing to issue the document. Town halls in Italy sometimes consult the National Association of Register Offices but on this issue there are contradictory statements. One, in particular, states, at odds with the Withdrawal Agreement, that five years’ residency must be completed before 31.12.2020. The statement has remained online as published in August 2023 and has led to many refusals.
- Alternatively, a biometric permanent residency card can be obtained from the provincial immigration office. However, many immigration offices are incorrectly turning away Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries, saying they must wait for their five-year cards to expire.
Being unable to obtain either document leaves people in limbo, denying them their Withdrawal Agreement rights and entitlement to free registration for healthcare.
Initially the increased voluntary contributions from €387 to €2,000 appeared to be just for non-EU citizens but later the Ministry of Health clarified that EU citizens were also affected. No specific mention was made of Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries, in spite of many efforts to obtain clarification since the increase was first mooted last October. I am sure you will agree that it is an enormous increase — an amount difficult, or even impossible, for some to find when there had been no prior notification and there is no option to pay in instalments. Then on 8th March 2024, the UK government published the following statement on its “Living in Italy” website:
If you were living in Italy before 1 January 2021
The Italian government has recently decided that: British nationals who entered and have been living in Italy prior to 1 January 2021 and are beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement can register for free (iscrizione obbligatoria) with the Italian National Health System (Sistema Sanitario Nazionale) and are therefore not required to make voluntary contributions.
Regional health authorities do not appear to have been informed of this decision so most are still compelling Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries to pay, including those who should not be paying at all but cannot prove their permanent residency.
A great deal of undeserved worry, frustration and even fear has ensued. Some of our group have serious, ongoing health conditions. All we require is for one sentence from the Italian government confirming that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries do not have to pay for healthcare access to be circulated to all regional health authorities. We implore you to act before this becomes even more serious. As someone put it, “This is a matter not only of money, but of health.”
Despite all this, Italy remains a wonderful country, Lord Cameron. It was the first EU country to announce in 2019 that British citizens would retain their residency rights (even in the event of the dreaded “no deal”). I remember crying with relief when I read the announcement. I cannot say that I am looking forward to crying again but I eagerly await that surge of relief when this situation is resolved. I am sure that the distress caused is unintentional — it is just that the situation has not been made clear to those who have to deal with it in public offices. We now need someone to speak, at the highest level and in diplomatic terms, for a group of British citizens who wish only to live their lives in peace and in accordance with the provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement.
Thank you in advance for anything that you and your colleagues can do to help.
Yours sincerely, Pat M. Eggleton
