Isabelle's story
Isabelle grew up with her mother in the Ivory Coast. Her father is French but now lives in the UK with his second wife and their children.
When she turned eighteen she came to the UK to train in film and TV makeup. Because Isabelle is French as well as Ivorian she has the right to come to the UK as an EU citizen. So she moved in with her dad and step mum in London.
Everything went really well for about a year; she got on a good course, found a part time job in a beauty salon and started going out with a drama student. But then her grandmother in France had a stroke. Her father and step mother decided they would have to move back to Lyon to look after her. They asked Isabelle to go with them, but she really didn't want to leave her course - or her boyfriend.
'I didn't know what to do,' says Isabelle, 'I'd only just got settled in London and I was finally doing the course I'd always wanted to. But would I be allowed to stay on my own?'
What happened to Isabelle?
Isabelle was so worried about what would happen to her that her boyfriend suggested that she should see the student adviser at the college. After a bit of research the adviser explained to Isabelle that she would be able to stay on her course: as the daughter of an EU worker who has worked in the UK Isabelle is entitled to access vocational training. 'It was such a relief!' says Isabelle, 'I didn't have to worry about being asked to leave anymore.'
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