(25 October 2018) – In 2017, about 3.1 million first residence permits were issued in the European Union to non-EU citizens. Main beneficiaries were from Ukraine and Syria.
Employment reasons accounted for almost one-third (32%) of all first residence permits issued in the EU in 2017, family reasons for 26%, education reasons for 17%, and other reasons, including international protection, for 24%.
The increase in the total number of first residence permits in 2017 in comparison with 2016 (almost 4%) was mainly due to the increasing number of first permits issued for employment reasons (up by 155 000, or 18%), family reasons (up by 49 000, or 6%) and education reasons (up by 30 000, or 6%), whereas the number of first permits issued for other reasons decreased by 123 000 (-14%).
In 2017, citizens of Ukraine (662 000 beneficiaries, of which almost 88% in Poland) continued to receive the highest number of permits in the EU, ahead of citizens of Syria (223 000, of which almost two-thirds in Germany), China including Hong Kong (193 000, of which almost half in the United Kingdom), India (163 000, of which 44% in the United Kingdom) and the United States (147 000, of which over half in the United Kingdom), Morocco (108 000, of which 41% in Spain) and Afghanistan (87 000, of which around 61% in Germany).