berlin. germany is home to at least 100,000 brits, and since the referendum, record numbers have applied fore morning after the referendum, the bottom dropped out of my life. she applied for citizenship almost immediately, and says the process was so stressful, it made her ill. the wait was awful, like, it was constantly on the back of my head. every time i went to the mailbox i was like, it could be there, it could be there, it could be there. finally, after more than a year, the letter arrived. i just started crying. why was it so emotional? because it was over. to become a german citizen, you must have lived in the country for six years, and speak the language, but you can apply sooner if you are married to a german. rose and her partner, rene, got married three months after the referendum. but brexit has put their other plans on hold. we wanted to move to the uk, and that was our plan — having a house and garden near to my mum. now, we're looking to buy in germany. it wasn't particularly ceremonious. there's a feeling of being rubber—stamped and approved, but it's only half of the proble