HIGH-salaried professional EU nationals who have paid their public pension dues for decades are among those being forced into formulating their own exit plans while others seeking to invest in a life in Scotland have been dubbed a risk to the bank.

Workers from a mix of migrant backgrounds were among one of many groups that have gathered for "Brexit survival sessions" with Scottish Europe Minister Alasdair Allan and said they were aghast at the uncertainty surrounding basic Brexit questions such what happens to their pensions.

The Minister said the Scottish Government would move to answer the concerns and reiterate that EU nationals are "not just welcome here but we will be explaining how necessary they are for our economy and for our society".

Hans Schutten, 51, a Dutch-born scientist now based near Stirling who has lived in Scotland for nearly nine of his 22 years in the UK and whose wife is English, said that "the certainties about my future and my retirement have been taken away overnight".

He said: "The situation where it was ‘I can pay but I have no say’, and that for me is very important.

“For me it is instead of a certain future in my home which is Scotland I now need to think and build an exit plan that I don’t want.

“For example, I could try to get my mortgage as quickly as possible paid up so that I have the flexibility to go and move."

He added: "I don‘t know what is going to happen with my public pension.

“I paid in 22 years in society, I’ve paid my share, I’ve never claimed any benefit in my 22 years and paid my taxes and my dues.

“It is so unfair.

"The EU nationals that live here are not takers they are bringers to society.”

German-born lawyer Alexandra Michael, 41, has been living in Edinburgh for four months, and is six months married to her 34-year-old husband who is also a German national but has lived in Scotland for half of his life, and works for the Scottish Government.

She said: "I am a trained lawyer in Germany and I would like to be called to the Bar in the UK.

"In terms of the legislation, that enables me to qualify here as a lawyer but after Brexit I cannot do that any more so I would have to more study here.

She said the couple "wanted to buy a house here but we have been told that we are a risk to the bank".

“We both have jobs with very good incomes, still it is difficult to make any progress in terms of how to live here because we just don’t know what’s going to happen and if everything goes really down we have a place to go back to in Germany but the question is we don’t want to.

"I find it very unprofessional of the UK to initiate to ignite a referendum without thinking twice.

“They have no answers."

Cecile Simonez, 31, from Belgium, spoke of her personal encounter working in a shop at the time of the referendum and said: "I had customers coming and giving me a massive hug and staying you’re still welcome here, I’ve had a lot of that.

“But I have also had people saying 'oh have you not been deported yet, jokingly without realising that it is really offensive'."

Mr Allan said after the Edinburgh meeting: "There were things in there that perhaps haven’t achieved very much attention in the past, for instance, people asking about what this would mean for older groups of people from European countries in terms of their pensions and their savings and that was something that hasn’t achieved much attention in the past."