Post-Brexit Documentation Rules Leave Elderly Polish Couple Stranded Abroad After Nearly Eight Decades in the UK

“After living in Britain for almost 80 years, the couple said they were stunned to discover they lacked the post-Brexit documentation needed to return home.”

An elderly Polish couple who have lived in the United Kingdom for nearly 80 years were temporarily prevented from returning home after a visit to Poland because they did not possess the immigration documentation now required under the UK’s post-Brexit border system.

Maria Krupa, 85, and her husband, Czeslaw Krupa, 92, said they were refused boarding on a Ryanair flight from Kraków in May after airline staff determined they could not demonstrate a legal right to reside in the United Kingdom and did not hold an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), which is required for many foreign nationals travelling to Britain.

The couple, who have lived in Bury, Greater Manchester, for decades, said they were unaware that changes introduced following the UK’s departure from the European Union affected their ability to re-enter the country where they have spent almost their entire lives.

“It was a big shock,” Maria Krupa said, describing the experience as both upsetting and unexpected. She said her husband, who uses a mobility scooter following a stroke affecting his spinal cord and relies on regular medication, was particularly distressed because he simply wanted to return home.

The Krupas arrived in Britain as children in 1947 and 1948 after the Second World War. They came as dependants of displaced Polish service members whose families had been uprooted during the conflict.

Czeslaw Krupa was born in territory that is now part of Ukraine, while Maria Krupa left what is now Belarus as an infant. Their fathers were among Polish military personnel associated with General Władysław Anders’ forces, which fought alongside Allied troops after evacuating through Persia and serving in campaigns across the Middle East, India and Africa during the war.

After settling in Britain, the couple met, married and built their lives in Greater Manchester. Throughout the decades they travelled internationally using long-standing immigration documentation, including aliens’ registration cards, without encountering questions regarding their residency status.

Their journey to Poland in May was intended to reunite them with surviving relatives. However, when preparing to return to the United Kingdom, Ryanair informed them they lacked acceptable evidence of their right to live in Britain under current immigration rules.

Maria Krupa said the couple attempted to explain that their families had been welcomed to Britain after the war and that their fathers had fought alongside British forces. According to her account, airline staff said they could not permit boarding because carriers face financial penalties for transporting passengers without the required travel documentation.

Unable to return immediately, the couple obtained an Electronic Travel Authorisation before making another attempt to travel. Maria Krupa said they were forced to complete the application as though they were tourists because the online system would not accept their British home address.

She recalled feeling anxious on arrival in Britain because they feared questions from border officials after submitting information that did not accurately reflect their circumstances.

Following their return, the couple sought assistance from Citizens Advice in Bury and were referred to the immigration charity Settled.

Kate Smart, chief executive of Settled, said the charity regularly encounters similar cases involving long-term UK residents who remain unaware of documentation requirements introduced under the EU Settlement Scheme.

According to Smart, many of those affected are elderly people who have lived in Britain for decades, have children and grandchildren born in the country, and have never regarded themselves as immigrants requiring formal proof of their immigration status.

The EU Settlement Scheme, introduced in 2019, requires eligible European Union citizens and their family members living in the UK to obtain digital immigration status to preserve their rights after Brexit, including the right to live, work and re-enter the country.

Maria Krupa said she had never applied for British citizenship because she had never previously needed a British passport. She said retaining Polish nationality reflected her heritage and did not diminish her appreciation for the country that had accepted her family after the war.

“I love England,” she said, adding that she remained grateful to Britain for providing refuge to thousands of displaced Polish families following the conflict.

After Settled submitted a “no time limit” application on the couple’s behalf, the Home Office granted both Maria and Czeslaw Krupa settled status, resolving their immigration position.

Smart praised the Home Office Resolution Centre for processing the application quickly but argued that stronger safeguards are needed to prevent similar cases. She said procedures should exist to identify and assist long-term residents facing documentation issues before they are prevented from travelling.

The case has highlighted continuing challenges faced by some elderly European residents navigating post-Brexit immigration requirements, particularly those who established their lives in Britain decades before the introduction of modern residency documentation and were unaware that historical immigration records no longer provide sufficient evidence for international travel.