There’s been a lot of talks about immigration in regards to Brexit over the past 12 months, but most of this to do with EU nationals, not much to do with Australia. In fact, in terms of immigration to the UK, we have had a bit of a rough deal.  In 2011, the UK cut off entry routes for Australian skilled workers and capped employer-sponsored visas at just 20,000 places a year. The British government cited requirements by the European Union to prioritise workers within the zone. In April this year, further restrictions were introduced including a minimum income requirement. The number of Australians obtaining work visas from the UK Home Office has halved in the past decade, and now sits at less than 15,000.

The UK economy used to rely on European workers to fill many skilled and unskilled jobs.

Prof Macintyre said it was now likely those jobs would be open to people from other parts of the world, particularly Commonwealth countries.

But while Europeans scramble to get their hands on British passports and uncertainty reigns, the Australian diplomat is taking a positive approach to the impending split, pledging to try to negotiate a better deal for Aussies moving to the mother country. Earlier this year, debates in Westminster pretty much came to blows, after the aussie government protested against the visa capdown. Mr Downer has continued his call for changes to the Tier 2 visa system to ensure Australians don’t have to travel home in order to change jobs and make it easier for them to gain employment in the UK in the first place.

This is all well and good, in an idealistic sense, but what does this mean for Australians who want to go through the British naturalisation process? All of the research I have been doing at the moment points towards the possibility of more skilled workers being admitted into the UK, but what happens if we want to become a British citizen?

I fear that there will be no definitive answer until all of the Brexit negotiations and policies have been finalised. All that can be sure is that there is going to be some turbulence along the way.