So I've just discovered this:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/brexit-latest-eu-national-right-to-live-uk-theresa-may-panic-a7602191.html#commentsDiv
I've been in Scotland for the last 10 years, self-employed for less than a year and have no CSI (
Comprehensive Sickness Insurance) (which I have never heard about before).
The UK can now legally throw me out of the country, if they so wish.
*/** If I leave the UK (for vacation or because of my job), upon re-entry to the UK I would commit a crime.
I'm still quite speechless. Not sure what I'm supposed to do now.
* Edit: That's not actually true. Only if I get deported and then try to re-enter would I commit a crime. There is however the legitimate worry that entering the UK as a EU citizen right now will count as an official entry in the country, and might cause legal problems down the line when arguing with the home office about your legitimacy.
** Edit 2: Nope, actually I was right in the first place. Here's an example from the freemovement.org.uk website:
"Anna is an EU national. She entered the UK in 1995 to live with her British husband. She has lived in the UK since then but has never been a qualified person because she has never held comprehensive sickness insurance, at least in the view of the Home Office. She has also therefore never acquired permanent residence.
Anna is considered by the Home Office to have no right of residence and to be living in the UK in breach of immigration laws.
If Anna leaves the UK, for example on holiday, when she re-enters she may be committing a criminal offence under section 24 of the Immigration Act 1971. The Home Office could take enforcement action against her at any time to remove her and she would only be able to appeal from abroad. If she applies for naturalisation as a British citizen she will be refused because she does not have permanent residence. Even if she now becomes a qualified person, for example by purchasing comprehensive sickness insurance, because of what the Home Office considers to be her unlawful residence in the UK, she would be barred from naturalising as a British citizen for at least 10 years because she would not pass the Home Office's good character test."