Cruise ship family’s lives ‘ruined by Brexit’ as rules mean they need dozens of visas – The Mirror

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Cruise ship workers are being forced out of the profession and overlooked for their European Union counterparts who don't need work visas, a veteran of the industry has claimed

Image: Jean Williams)

Cruise ship workers are leaving the industry in their droves due to crippling post-Brexit visa rules, a veteran of the industry has claimed.

Jean Williams says her life is being 'destroyed' and the livelihoods of many of her friends 'sacrificed' thanks to new employment rules.

Her 20 year career working on the river boats of Europe has been in serious jeopardy since the UK officially left the EU at the beginning of 2020.

Now the 56-year-old, her husband, son and thousands like them must apply for individual visas for each EU country they visit or sail through the waters of, as well as buy private health insurance.

She calculates the total extra cost at almost 5,000 a year, with the lengthy visa application process taking up to eight weeks.

As a result of the extra bureaucracy, many cruise firms are refusing to hire British workers, Jean says.

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For cruise workers are least, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's promises that Brexit would be a 'bonfire of red tape' and would lead to 'hundreds of thousands of new jobs' seem a far cry from reality.

"My husband and I did not want Brexit. We voted to remain but we are most definitely victims of Brexit," Jean, from Kent, told The Mirror.

"I do not remember Mr Johnson saying that the entertainment industrys professions, livelihoods and lives would be sacrificed when he was campaigning for Brexit over five years ago.

"While I may not agree with the decision to leave the EU, I respect the outcome of Brexit. But I dont deserve to be Brexits victim either.

"I am not a remoaner as we have been unfairly labelled, but because these issues were not sorted out properly before we left the EU, Brexit is destroying my life, the lives of my family, the lives of many people I know personally and thousands of people I will never know."

For the first 20 years of Jean and husband Glen's careers as entertainers on cruise ships their work life was relatively simple.

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As passport holders of an EU country they had the right to move and work in 27 other European nations with no need for a visa or health insurance.

All of that changed when the UK officially left the bloc.

"If we visit ten countries, we have to get ten visas," Jean said.

"You have to apply for them at the embassies in London. You go for an appointment and you have an interview.

"It is a lot of paper work and there's no guarantee you'll get a visa. The visas cost about 75 each.

"We are also talking health insurance which you never needed before. That's 8,000 a year for my husband and I."

When the industry started to restart after the coronavirus pandemic, Jean discovered the new rules were having a big impact on her employment opportunities.

She continued: "I started to notice that the adverts advertising the positions us Brits have been doing for decades, were now saying 'EU passport holders only'.

"Agencies told me they won't employ us when I called them.

"To put this into perspective, we are actually talking about hundreds of thousands of UK jobs and lives being effected here.

"UK workers including the self employed, cruise directors, entertainers, musicians, dancers, speciality acts, bar staff, chefs, waiters, cleaners, sound crew, lighting crew, hairdressers, makeup artists (to name but a few) are all going to lose work to European Workers unless an agreement is made between the UK and the EU to enable us all to continue to work in Europe.

"Many of these people effected are young people who are just starting out.

"Many have studied long and hard and got themselves into financial debt in order to be able to do the job of their dreams, only to find there are no jobs for them.

"Many of these people (like us) are very experienced in their chosen profession and have been working in the same industry for many years and this is how we are repaid for all our hard work over the years."

Jean and Glen are determined to jump through the bureaucratic hoops and fork out the extra costs so they can continue working in the industry they love.

Others, including two of the six couples they most recently worked on stage with, have already given up on cruise ship work or are in the process of doing so.

"My son and his girlfriend have been working for many years as a dance couple for a UK agent throughout Europe, only to be told this year their contract is cancelled as the agency can no longer work them anymore due to the EU restrictions and they are both devastated," Jean added.

When asked whether the UK had plans to negotiate an EU wide work visa for British workers, a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Officer simply said: "Visa routes for other countries are a matter for those countries."

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Cruise ship family's lives 'ruined by Brexit' as rules mean they need dozens of visas - The Mirror