A HELENSBURGH woman who has lived in Scotland for more than 40 years says she fears being sent back to her native Germany after the UK leaves the European Union.

Gudrun Black says she’s worried that she may not be allowed to stay in her adopted home under the Home Office’s ‘settled status’ scheme.

The UK government announced last week that it was scrapping plans to charge a £65 ‘administration fee’ for people applying for settled status, under which EU nationals living in the UK must ask for permission to stay after Brexit.

Gudrun, 63, told the Advertiser: “The £65 thing was dropped, but the money didn’t bother me – it was the fact that after 42 years living in Britain, working hard and paying taxes and national insurance, I was going to have to apply to stay here.

“To me it was a slap in the face. I’ve been here for 42 years. I love Scotland, and Scotland has definitely become my home.

“But just after the referendum I felt, for the first time in a very long time, that I was in a country where I was no longer quite fitting in.

“I’ve had some very nice people apologise to me for the actions of the UK and saying that I’m being treated appallingly.

“And I’ve had some comments from people – mostly older people – saying that I’m a ‘Gerry’. And that’s fine.

“But I’ve had some that are below the belt. I’ve been told ‘maybe it’s time for you to go’. One actually told me ‘it’s your own fault, why didn’t you apply for British citizenship before?’.

“But I’m German, through and through. I love Scotland but I was born in Germany and I lived there until I was 21.

“If I could get dual nationality I would, but I’ve been told I can’t because both my parents are German. And there was never any need for it.”

Gudrun moved to the UK in 1976, securing a job in a hospital as an occupational therapist only two months later, and moved to Helensburgh with her husband, Joe, 29 years ago.

She has also worked for the National Trust for Scotland at the Hill House in Helensburgh, and is currently a self-employed home help.

Gudrun said her family didn’t speak to her about the ‘settled status’ scheme until after the festive season so as not to spoil the family’s Christmas and New Year celebrations.

“When I found out, I was in tears,” she said.

“My family have assured me that I should get settled status, but what will happen if the government says I’m retired, I’m not contributing, and so they don’t want me any more?

“I’ve had a very nice letter from Brendan O’Hara telling me that I’m always welcome in Argyll and Bute and that Argyll and Bute is proud of its EU citizen. But nobody can give me a guarantee that I’ll still be able to live in Scotland after Britain leaves the EU.

“Until I have that in front of me in black and white I’ll have a sick feeling in my stomach.”

Mr O’Hara said: “There are several thousand EU citizens living and contributing in Argyll and Bute. Without them, our services would be struggling to cope.

“My fears remain for our EU nationals as whilst the UK Government’s proposed ‘settled status’ is rolled out, without having any legal effect, there will be thousands who may fall foul of this route to settlement.

“The effects of Brexit in whatever form will impact not just on goods and services but on the people who chose to live, work and raise families here, who are professionals, teachers, doctors, nurses, care workers, hospitality, tourism – who all contribute to our day to day life.”

The ‘settled status’ scheme is open for applications from non-UK EU nationals from March 30 – the day after Britain is due to leave the EU – and applications must be sent to the Home Office by June 30.

The Home Office has produced a series of fact sheets on the scheme, on the public tests of the scheme – the latest of which ended on December 21 – and on the decision to scrap plans to charge an administration fee.

These state: "The EU Settlement Scheme will enable EU citizens resident in the UK and their family members to obtain the UK immigration status they will require in order to live and work in the UK after the end of the planned implementation period onDecember 31, 2020.

"The EU Settlement Scheme will be fully open by March 30, 2019. Under the draft Withdrawal Agreement, the deadline for applying will be June 30, 2021.

"The second test phase of the EU Settlement Scheme has been successful, with 29,987 applications submitted from November 1 to December 21, 2018, enabling us to prove the functionality of the end-to-end online application process.

"27,211 decisions had been made and sent out to applicants by January 14, 2019, and 69 per cent of decided cases were processed in three working days, with 81 per cent processed within a week."

Announcing details of the scheme last year, immigration minister Caroline Nokes MP said: “As this Government has consistently made clear, EU citizens make a huge contribution to our economy and to our society and we want them to stay.

“The EU Settlement Scheme will make it simple and straightforward for EU citizens to get the status they need.”