A FORMER Plascrug and Penglais school pupil, who is now entering the final years of a 10-year medical degree in London, fears he may have to leave the UK after Brexit.

Rafael Di Marco Barros, 27, lived and went to school in Aberystwyth for 15 years between 1993 and 2008, before moving to study medicine and medical research at University College London, a degree which requires him to submit a PhD thesis before completing his medical training.

Mr Di Marco Barros’ mother Patricia still lives in Aberystwyth, where she worked for the university for more than 10 years, volunteered as a special constable for three years, and now works as a production accountant for the BBC.

Born in Brazil — where his father is from — and having moved to Italy before the age of one, Mr Di Marco Barros and his mother hold an Italian passport only, a fact which threatens their right to remain in the UK since the vote to leave the EU in June.

“Nobody in my family holds a British passport as we are all Italian citizens and there was never any need,” Mr Di Marco Barros told the Cambrian News this week.

“I guess at the start, we weren’t expecting to stay. But eventually when that decision was made, I really can’t say why they never applied to get me, my sister, or themselves, British citizenship.”

Mr Di Marco Barros said one of the reasons for his family not applying for a passport when he was younger could be the fact each individual application for a passport costs in excess of £1,000, a lot of money for a family of four.

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