A 78-year-old British widow, Joyce Thomas, is taking legal action to stop Sweden from deporting her after Swedish authorities ruled her post-Brexit application to remain was submitted too late.

Thomas, a retired nurse, has lived in Sweden for 21 years and was told she must leave within four weeks in November. Her case is part of a wider wave of orders affecting British nationals following the end of free movement rights after Brexit, which both campaigners and the UK government say has become unusually difficult in Sweden.

Deportation order after rejected late application

Thomas was widowed in 2021, after her husband, Gwynne, died of cancer in 2023. The couple had lived in Sweden for years after moving to an apartment in Hammarö, near her son and grandchildren, and close to her husband’s grave.

She said she and her husband only learned in 2022, when they returned from the UK to visit their second son in Brighton, that a formal application to stay would have been required after Brexit. She added that her husband had handled their administration and was confident he would have applied had he known.

Under the EU-UK withdrawal agreement, late applications can be considered where there are “reasonable grounds”. Thomas’s application was rejected in 2024 on the basis that she could not show such grounds. A further bid to stay under Sweden’s national immigration rules was also refused.

With the help of lawyers working pro bono, she is now challenging the decisions in a higher court.

Case follows other concerns about UK citizens in Sweden

Thomas’s situation has drawn fresh attention following an earlier case involving a British woman with dementia who faced deportation in Sweden shortly before she died, according to the report that prompted new concern.

Her departure notice has been described as especially distressing given her age and long residence in Sweden. She has said she has no criminal record or driving penalties and that she has lived on her own financial means. She also argued it would be difficult to move again to maintain contact with her family and to visit her husband’s grave.

UK says Sweden takes a stricter approach

The UK government has said it regularly raises concerns with Swedish authorities and the European Commission, which monitors how EU citizens’ rights are implemented in member states.

Data cited by the UK shows Sweden has carried out the highest number of Brexit-related deportations of Britons among EU countries. Eurostat figures show 2,500 British nationals have been ordered to leave Sweden since Brexit, accounting for about one-third of the removal orders issued across the 27-member bloc since 2021.

The UK also pointed to rejection rates under the withdrawal agreement. According to an analysis of European Commission reporting, Sweden refused almost 4,000 applicants for post-Brexit residency status out of 14,200 submitted. The refusal rate of 27.5% is described as three times higher than any other EU member state and far above an EU average of between 3% and 4%. Comparable figures cited include Bulgaria, which refused five out of about 16,000, and Belgium, which refused 605 out of about 13,000.

UK government sources said Sweden was “taking a considerably stricter approach” than other states, with the result that applicants are unlikely to have their “reasonable grounds” accepted in practice.

Swedish immigration authority sets threshold for late claims

A spokesperson for Sweden’s immigration authority, Migrationsverket, said late applications can still be submitted in exceptional circumstances, but the applicant must explain in writing why they could not apply within the prescribed period. The spokesperson added that simply stating the person was unaware of the requirement to apply is not, by itself, considered a sufficient explanation.

Labour’s Peter Kyle, MP for Brighton, whose constituency includes Thomas’s home area in the UK, said her case was “deeply concerning” and urged Swedish authorities to take account of her long residence, family ties and humanitarian factors.

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10 August 2026

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Refugee invaders in , civilized Brits out.

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