Photo credit: KB / BD.
Czech Rep., Dec 1 (BD) – According to the data released last week by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office, about 3 million first residence permits were issued in the EU to non-EU citizens in 2019. This number was 6% higher than the previous year, continuing the upward trend since 2013.
| Reason for Residence Permit | % |
| Employment-related reasons | 41% |
| Family reasons | 27% |
| Education reasons | 14% |
| Other reasons (incl. international protection) | 18% |
Highest Number of First Residence Permits Issued in Poland and Germany.
Poland issued 25% of all first residence permits granted in the EU to non-EU citizens (724,000), with Germany in second place with 460,000 (16%), followed by Spain (320,000, or 11%), France (285,000, or 10%), Italy (176,000, or 6%) and the Czech Republic (117,000, or 4%).
Per capita, the Czech Republic issued the 8th highest number of first residence permits.
The highest per capita numbers were in Malta (42 permits issued per 1,000 inhabitants), ahead of Cyprus (26), Poland (19), Slovenia (15) and Luxembourg (14).
Most Permits Went to Ukrainian Citizens
Poland issued the most employment-related residence permits, with 625,000 permits issued in 2019 (of which 551,000 were issued to Ukrainians), comprising 52% of all first permits issued in the EU for employment reasons.
France topped the list of education-related permits (90,000 permits, or 23%).
The largest group by nationality to receive first residence permits in the EU in 2019 were Ukrainians (757,000). According to Eurostat, four out of five of these permits were issued by Polish offices.
Citizens of Morocco (133,000 permits) and India (131,000) were the second and third largest national groups to receive EU residence permits.
