A British man living in Denmark is being deported back to the UK away from his fiancee as he was four days late with his post- Brexit application.
Philip Russell, 46, received his first removal order in May and was devastated to learn it was because he was four days late with new residency documentation he did not realise he needed post-Brexit, according to the Guardian.
The financial services administrator moved to Denmark to be with his fiancee in October 2020, three months before the Brexit transition period ended in December 2020.
A Danish MP, Mads Fuglede, is fighting to stop the deportation as he believes it is a breach of the spirit of the withdrawal agreement to protect EU citizens’ rights.
The letter said: “You must leave Denmark no later than one month from today’s date, which means no later than 6 December 2022.
"As a consequence of our decision, you also no longer have the right to work in Denmark without a work permit. Therefore we will inform your employer about our decision."
Mr Fuglede has taken on his case and written to the former interior minister to urge a change in the law to allow late applications to be considered, as they are in the UK.
However, he is worried that help may not come in time as the government hangs in balance following recent elections.
Mr Russell told the Guardian he is "completely devastated".
He continued: "I’ve been through 11 months of hell already, with no end in sight apart from being deported, so that means I’m going to lose my job, my home, my fiancee, being dumped back into London."
The MP says while he understands his client missed the deadline, the "spirit" of the withdrawal agreement was to ensure that every UK citizen in Denmark had an easy pathway to stay.
He continued: “There are probably others who are going through similar agony which is not what we intended,” he said.
Mr Fuglede said Mr Russell would need a lawyer.
Russell’s fiance, Frederikke, said she is ashamed that her country has behaved like this and that her worst nightmare has come true.
Frederikke suffers from clinical depression and anxiety and this situation has compounded her problems, causing her to quit her job to severe stress.
"We visited the Agency for International Recruitment and Integration [SIRI] when Philip got his residence permit, and there we were told that now he should not take any further action. But suddenly there was an application deadline that we had never heard of," Ms Sørensen said to the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet.
In April 2021 around 40 people on a flight from Manchester were turned back upon arriving at Alicante-Elche airport in Spain after a dispute over post-Brexit paperwork at the airport.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office spokesperson said it was in contact with a UK national in Denmark about his residency status.
