A Moniaive grandmother has won a three-year Brexit battle to stay in Scotland after fearing she’d be booted out of her home and sent back to her native Holland.
Anja Lyttle said: “I was so stressed out and anxious that I could hardly sleep at night.
“It hasn’t been an easy process, but I’m one of the lucky ones.”
Anja is one of millions of people who have had to make an application to the EU Settlement Scheme asking for the right to remain in the UK after Brexit.
The 66-year-old moved to Scotland the day after she married Irish husband Paul 40 years ago.
The couple have lived in Moniaive for 17 years.
Despite having three children and working as a primary school teacher, Anja was forced to apply for settlement status and started the process the day after the Brexit vote in June 2016.
She said: “After the vote, I felt unwanted, particularly after reading things some people had written on social media.
“When I moved here 40 years ago I made every possible effort to fit in and I now feel more Scottish than Dutch. I’ve still got a brother and sister in Holland, but I don’t have a home there.
“When I realised I’d be sent back to Holland if my settlement application was unsuccessful, it felt like having the rug pulled from under me.
“I was absolutely bewildered because I couldn’t even contemplate going back.”
Anja found an online application process littered with “technical difficulties and errors.”
She said: “It was made so difficult. The Home Office described it as an easy process but some of the questions seemed deceptive to me.
“I feel like I didn’t get the help I needed and it was so stressful that Paul and I decided if I was refused, we’d go and live in the Republic of Ireland where he is from originally.
“If I’d been forced to go back to Holland, Paul would also have had to apply for settlement status there. This can rip families apart.
“My husband and children were so worried. I help to look after my granddaughter in Moniaive and she would also have been devastated if my application hadn’t been successful.
“I just couldn’t imagine having to leave everyone and everything behind.
“I’ve had fantastic support from my family and the entire community of Moniaive.
“I still hope that there’s no Brexit at all. I truly believe it’s the wrong thing to do.”
According to statistics, more than 1.8 million people had applied for settlement before the end of September
