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Keep calm and wait and see: Advice for expats post-Brexit

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Keep calm and wait and see: Advice for expats post-Brexit
Photo: www.gov.uk

The UK Foreign Office has launched a new website for those anxious Brits expats who live in Europe and fear the consequences of Brexit.

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This week saw the launch of a new webpage specifically designed to keep expat British nationals informed about changes that Brexit might bring.

But with no idea yet when and what form the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union will take, the website offers a simple message: Keep calm and wait and see.

READ MORE: Seven burning questions for British expats about Brexit

"The negotiations to leave the EU may take up to 2 years or more," the website states.

"The government has made clear that we want the legal rights of British nationals living in European countries, as well as EU nationals in the UK, to be properly protected.

"In the interim there will be no immediate changes. During the period of the negotiations, the UK remains a full member, entitled to all the benefits and obligations of membership of the EU."

The webpage includes information on passports, pensions, healthcare, and also has a link to some general information on applying for dual citizenship.

The message is clear: whatever is on the cards for the next few months and years, just remember that right now nothing has changed.

Simon Manley, the British Ambassador in Madrid, sent out the same message the day after the shock vote result, a video that has now been viewed more than any other in FCO history, as floods of British expats sought reassurance.

READ MORE Brexit limbo: What happens next for expat Brits in Spain?

Spain has anywhere been 700,000 and one million Brits living here, according to estimates, many of whom have expressed fears over what Brexit could mean for their future.

Thousands of Brits in Spain have signed a petition to demand that Spain allows dual citizenship to those Brits that have been resident for over ten years.

In just a week since being launched the campaign has 12,260 signatures

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