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A young couple separated by long distance due to Brexit “heartache” have finally found a loophole by making Ireland their home.
Nathaniel Bacchus, 25, from Ipplepen in Devon, and Karin Kohlmetz, a 26-year-old from Esbjerg in Denmark, met online on a Discord server in May 2022 and they have been travelling the 900-mile distance between their respective homes ever since – with dreams to get married and start a family in the future.
After Karin applied for a spouse or partner visa with hopes to move to the UK, the couple discovered they faced a fee of £88,500 for a UK spouse visa, prompting them to ask the public for financial support on GoFundMe.
The fee made their plans feel like a “fantasy” but after sharing their experience on TikTok, they received a message urging them to relocate to Ireland.
Part of the European Union, the country allows UK and EU citizens to stay without restriction, providing they are working or they have enough funds to support themselves, and the pair feel like a “weight has lifted” as they prepare to move and settle down together once and for all.
Speaking to PA Real Life while together in Denmark, Karin, who is completing a three-year visual communication degree, said: “Every time we leave each other we’re thinking ‘We’re never going to see each other again’, but eventually, we’re going to be able to say ‘See you at home’.
“£88,000 seemed like a fantasy number but now there’s no tricky requirements, it’s just the money we need to live.
“I was a bit shocked as our solution has been right there the whole time but we had such tunnel vision between England and Denmark.”
Nathaniel, who is currently unemployed but is about to start a job as a social media manager, said: “It seems way too good to be true, we’ve spent so many nights googling it and we still didn’t really believe it – every other way just seems so much more complicated.”
The couple initially had their hearts set on living together in the UK – and while Denmark was also an option for the pair, it was thought the language barrier for Nathaniel and Karin’s education being more applicable to a variety of jobs would set them in better stead to live in England.
However, as Nathaniel did not meet the minimum income requirement to sponsor someone for a spouse or partner visa in the UK, an income threshold of at least £29,000 a year, their dreams appeared to be scuppered.
A couple with no relevant earnings who are looking to meet the threshold entirely in savings need a lump sum of £88,500, according to the UK Government – and while the couple appealed for public funding through GoFundMe, they knew it would take years to reach the full amount.
After sharing their experience on TikTok however, they were approached by one of their followers about looking into the possibility of relocating to Ireland together.
“Someone actually contacted us privately and asked ‘Have you thought about Ireland?’” Karin said.
Nathaniel said: “It just missed our radar for the first year or so, but it seems a lot more achievable and it definitely took a weight off our shoulders.”
As a member of the EU, Ireland participates in freedom of movement which allows UK and EU nationals to live and work there without the need for visas or work permits, according to the government of Ireland.
An EU citizen, such as Karin, can enter the country and stay there for up to three months, or six months if they are looking for a job, without restriction, according to Citizens Information.
If they would like to stay longer than three months, they have to be working, have enough funds to support themselves, or be enrolled as a student.
“Even if we have to have two, three jobs, we’ll do whatever we can to live in the same country,” Nathaniel said.
Karin added: “Ideally, I would like a job that has something to do with my education but I can’t be picky, I’m not going to be picky.”
Nathaniel and Karin first met on an online Discord server in May 2022, where they started to play video games together and chat online before realising they had an extra fondness for each other.
Nathaniel flew to Denmark in November 2022 to meet Karin for the first time and the pair have been going the distance between their respective homes ever since.
The initial hurdles they needed to jump over to live together started to cause some anxiety between the pair, especially when they would leave each other.
“A relationship can’t work if you’re not connecting physically every once in a while,” Karin said.
“Emotionally, ever since this Ireland thing has come up, a lid has been put on the anxiety around our distance.
“We’re actually able to have a conversation now about how we want to run a home together.”
The couple are looking to initiate their plans as soon as possible and are toying with which area they would like to settle in – including Dublin, Cork or somewhere “off the beaten path”.
They have kept their GoFundMe page open for now, raising just over £800 so far, which they will use to help them with the costs of relocating when the time comes.
They are looking to meet with an Irish immigration lawyer in the coming weeks to begin setting their plans in motion.
“It’s freeing, it doesn’t seem so far away now and we could actually get this done before the end of next year,” Nathaniel said.
They also urged other international long-distance couples to “keep doing research” into the various solutions to living together.
“Keep planning for it, get into the communities and talk to people who relate to your situation,” Karin said.
“If that one person had not said anything about Ireland, we would never have been where we are now.
“Keep trying to find a solution, there’s going to be one – one way or another.”
To find out more, visit the couple’s GoFundMe page here: gofundme.com/f/projectcominghome
