174/2017 - 16 November 2017

Residence permits for non-EU citizens

New high in first residence permits issued in the
EU Member States in 2016
Main beneficiaries from Ukraine, Syria and the United States
In 2016, about 3.4 million first residence permits were issued in the European Union (EU) to non-EU citizens, a
record number since comparable data are available (2008) and up by 28% (or nearly 735 000 residence permits)
compared with 2015. This increase was mainly due to the larger number of first permits issued for 'other reasons'
(+64%) as well as for employment reasons (+21%). Employment reasons accounted for a quarter (25.4%) of all
first residence permits issued in the EU in 2016, family for 23.2% and education for 20.7%, while other reasons,
including international protection and humanitarian status (about 14% of all first permits issued in 2016),
represented 30.7%.

First residence permits issued in the EU by reason, 2008-2016
3,500,000

Family

Education

Employment

Other

3,000,000

2,500,000

2,000,000

1,500,000

1,000,000

500,000

0
2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

EU aggregate excluding Luxembourg for 2008 and Croatia for the years 2008-2012.

These administrative data on residence permits in the EU are complemented with an article issued by Eurostat, the
statistical office of the European Union.

Highest number of first residence permits issued in the United Kingdom, Poland and Germany
In 2016, one out of four first residence permits was issued in the United Kingdom (865 900 residence permits
issued, or 25.8% of total permits issued in the EU). It was followed by Poland (586 000, or 17.5%), Germany (504
800, or 15.0%), France (235 000, or 7.0%), Italy (222 400, or 6.6%), Spain (211 500, or 6.3%) and Sweden (146
700, or 4.4%).
Compared to the population of each Member State, the highest rates of first resident permits issued in 2016 were
recorded in Malta (20.6 first residence permits issued per thousand inhabitants), Cyprus (19.9), Poland (15.4)
Sweden (14.8) and the United Kingdom (13.2). For the EU as a whole in 2016, 6.5 first residence permits were
issued per thousand inhabitants.

 First residence permits issued in the EU by reason, 2016
Total
#

Family reasons

per 1000
population

EU
3 355 506
Belgium
53 096
Bulgaria
7 942
Czech Republic
80 070
Denmark
41 440
504 849
Germany
4 308
Estonia
38 433
Ireland*
44 072
Greece
211 533
Spain
235 011
France
5 315
Croatia
222 398
Italy
Cyprus
16 970
Latvia
6 037
Lithuania
6 750
Luxembourg
5 627
22 842
Hungary
8 995
Malta
95 753
Netherlands
50 066
Austria
585 969
Poland
30 993
Portugal
11 867
Romania
13 517
Slovenia
Slovakia
10 227
Finland
28 792
Sweden
146 740
United Kingdom
865 894
1 469
Iceland
785
Liechtenstein
38 349
Norway
Switzerland*
40 021

6.5
4.7
1.1
7.6
7.2
6.1
3.3
8.1
4.1
4.6
3.5
1.3
3.7
19.9
3.1
2.4
9.7
2.3
20.6
5.6
5.7
15.4
3.0
0.6
6.5
1.9
5.2
14.8
13.2
4.4
20.8
7.3
4.8

#

779 301
26 325
3 240
24 568
12 883
136 982
1 424
3 444
23 598
115 143
93 873
1 673
101 269
2 332
2 197
1 173
2 952
4 730
1 719
24 962
15 635
8 416
14 847
3 871
4 592
2 582
7 833
47 697
89 341
479
533
15 133
19 506

Share

23.2%
49.6%
40.8%
30.7%
31.1%
27.1%
33.1%
9.0%
53.5%
54.4%
39.9%
31.5%
45.5%
13.7%
36.4%
17.4%
52.5%
20.7%
19.1%
26.1%
31.2%
1.4%
47.9%
32.6%
34.0%
25.2%
27.2%
32.5%
10.3%
32.6%
67.9%
39.5%
48.7%

Of which:
Education reasons Employment reasons
#

694 648
6 303
1 067
17 099
10 481
46 083
1 114
22 075
902
35 636
73 572
526
16 847
3 313
1 314
928
420
7 874
1 848
16 317
5 770
32 676
3 837
4 631
1 799
1 723
6 235
8 803
365 455
423
50
3 673
10 222

Share

20.7%
11.9%
13.4%
21.4%
25.3%
9.1%
25.9%
57.4%
2.0%
16.8%
31.3%
9.9%
7.6%
19.5%
21.8%
13.7%
7.5%
34.5%
20.5%
17.0%
11.5%
5.6%
12.4%
39.0%
13.3%
16.8%
21.7%
6.0%
42.2%
28.8%
6.4%
9.6%
25.5%

#

852 747
5 181
276
23 097
10 208
39 552
1 339
6 073
2 133
38 154
23 076
2 634
9 389
7 385
1 736
4 082
1 340
5 851
3 036
14 621
3 337
493 960
5 948
1 766
6 894
3 590
5 381
15 632
117 076
304
99
7 021
10 033

Share

Other reasons
#

25.4% 1 028 810
9.8%
15 287
3.5%
3 359
28.8%
15 306
24.6%
7 868
7.8% 282 232
31.1%
431
15.8%
6 841
4.8%
17 439
18.0%
22 600
9.8%
44 490
49.6%
482
4.2%
94 893
43.5%
3 940
28.8%
790
60.5%
567
23.8%
915
25.6%
4 387
33.8%
2 392
15.3%
39 853
6.7%
25 324
84.3%
50 917
19.2%
6 361
14.9%
1 599
51.0%
232
35.1%
2 332
18.7%
9 343
10.7%
74 608
13.5% 294 022
20.7%
263
12.6%
103
18.3%
12 522
25.1%
2 258

Share

30.7%
28.8%
42.3%
19.1%
19.0%
55.9%
10.0%
17.8%
39.6%
10.7%
18.9%
9.1%
42.7%
23.2%
13.1%
8.4%
16.3%
19.2%
26.6%
41.6%
50.6%
8.7%
20.5%
13.5%
1.7%
22.8%
32.4%
50.8%
34.0%
17.9%
13.1%
32.7%
5.6%

* Ireland: 2015 data instead of 2016.
The source dataset can be found here.

For employment in Poland, for education in the United Kingdom
Poland (494 000 permits, or 58% of all permits issued for employment reasons in the EU in 2016) was by far the
first destination for employment related permits, while the United Kingdom (365 500 permits, or 53%) was the
primary destination in the EU for education related reasons. With over 100 000 permits each, Germany (137 000,
or 18%), Spain (115 100, or 15%) and Italy (101 300, or 13%) were the three Member States with the highest
number of permits issued for family reasons in 2016. They were closely followed by France (93 900, or 12%) and
the United Kingdom (89 300, or 11%).

Family reasons tend to prevail across individual Member States
In eleven Member States, the largest numbers of permits were issued for family reasons, with the highest shares
observed in Spain (54.4% of all residence permits issued in the Member State), Greece (53.5%) and Luxembourg
(52.5%). Education was the main reason in Ireland (57.4% of all residence permits issued in the Member State in
2015), the United Kingdom (42.2%), Romania (39.0%) and Hungary (34.5%). In seven Member States, the main
reason for issuing residence permits was employment, the highest shares being recorded in Poland (84.3% of all
residence permits issued in the Member State), Lithuania (60.5%), Slovenia (51.0%) and Croatia (49.6%). Other
reasons, which include international protection status and humanitarian reasons, were predominant in the six
remaining Member States, notably in Germany (55.9% of all residence permits issued in the Member State),
Sweden (50.8%) and Austria (50.6%).

 Almost half of residence permits granted to five citizenships
In 2016, citizens of Ukraine (588 900 beneficiaries, of which 87% in Poland) continued to receive the highest
number of permits in the EU, ahead of citizens of Syria (348 100, of which almost two-thirds in Germany), the
United States (250 900, of which almost three-quarters in the United Kingdom), India (198 400, of which over 60%
in the United Kingdom) and China (195 600, of which a majority in the United Kingdom). Around half of all first
residence permits issued in the EU in 2016 were issued to citizens of these five countries.

First residence permits issued in the EU by citizenship, 2016
Total

Main citizenships of first residence permits beneficiaries

#
EU

First

3 355 506

Ukraine

#

%

588 927

17.6

Second
Syria

#

%

348 082

Third

10.7 United States

#

%

250 936

7.5

Belgium

53 096

Syria

6 725 12.7

Morocco

5 512

10.4 India

2 899

5.5

Bulgaria

7 942

Turkey

2 838 35.7

Russia

1 509

19.0 Ukraine

1 086

13.7

80 070

Ukraine

24 223 30.3

Russia

12 122

15.1 Vietnam

8 160

10.2

Denmark

41 440

Syria

8 366 20.2

Germany

504 849

Syria

221 440 43.9

Czech Republic

India

4 449

4 387

10.6

Iraq

29 701

10.7 United States
5.9 Turkey

18 043

3.6

Russia

1 051

24.4 RNC**

162

3.8

Estonia

4 308

Ireland*

38 433

Brazil

10 955 28.5

India

2 883

7.5 United States

2 690

7.0

Greece

44 072

Albania

30 958 70.2

Georgia

1 408

3.2 China

1 248

2.8

Spain

211 533

Morocco

39 570 18.7

China

13 210

12 557

5.9

France

235 011

Algeria

28 709 12.2

Morocco

27 184

16 126

6.9

Croatia

5 315

12.8 Ukraine

294

5.5

7.8 Albania

Italy
Cyprus

222 398
16 970

Ukraine

Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Nigeria

1 303 30.2

2 382 44.8
20 562

9.2

Serbia
Morocco

678
17 257

6.2 Colombia
11.6 China

17 167

7.7

India

3 072 18.1

Russia

2 337

13.8 Syria

1 796

10.6

Latvia

6 037

Russia

1 653 27.4

Ukraine

1 435

23.8 India

470

7.8

Lithuania

6 750

Ukraine

2 828 41.9

Belarus

1 207

17.9 Russia

Luxembourg

5 627

Syria

22 842

China

8 995

Serbia

Hungary
Malta

532

9.5

China

2 889 12.6

Ukraine

971

14.4

483

8.6 United States

479

8.5

2 375

10.4 United States

2 245

9.8

1 072 11.9

Libya

984

Netherlands

95 753

Syria

23 612 24.7

India

8 105

Austria

50 066

Syria

8 391 16.8

Serbia

5 018

Poland

585 969

Belarus

28 165

Ukraine

512 552 87.5

10.9 Philippines
8.5 China
10.0

Bosnia and
Herzegovina

4.8 Moldova

Portugal

30 993

Brazil

9 061 29.2

China

3 794

12.2 Cape Verde

Romania

11 867

Moldova

2 160 18.2

Turkey

1 213

10.2 China

Slovenia

13 517

Bosnia and
Herzegovina

6 330 46.8

Serbia

2 399

17.7 Kosovo****

Slovakia

10 227

Ukraine

3 016 29.5

Serbia

2 076

20.3 Russia

Finland

28 792

Iraq

3 535 12.3

Russia

3 433

11.9 Afghanistan

Sweden

146 740

Syria

United Kingdom

865 894

United States

183 867 21.2

1 469

United States

267 18.2

Philippines

Iceland
Liechtenstein

785

Switzerland

54 140 36.9

Stateless***
India

8 711
122 075

5.9 Eritrea
14.1 China

115

7.8 Syria
4.8 Brazil

447 56.9

Turkey

38

Norway

38 349

Syria

9 374 24.4

Eritrea

3 104

8.1 Philippines

Switzerland

40 021

India

2 213

United States

2 041

5.1 China

5.5

711

7.9

6 326

6.6

4 060

8.1

7 613

1.3

2 378

7.7

958

8.1

1 397

10.3

743

7.3

2 179

7.6

8 511

5.8

103 248

11.9

88

6.0

35

4.5

2 218

5.8

566

1.4

* Ireland: 2015 data instead of 2016
** A recognised non-citizen (R.N.C) is a person who is neither a citizen of the reporting country nor of any other country, and who has
established links to the reporting country which include some but not all rights and obligations of full citizenship. A majority of these persons
were citizens of the former Soviet Union.
*** A stateless person is someone who is not recognized as a citizen of any state.
**** Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

 Top 10 citizenships granted first residence permits in the EU by reason (%), 2016
Family

Education

Employment

Other

Ukraine

Syria

United States

India

China

Morocco

Philippines

Russia

Turkey

Brazil
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Ukrainians for employment, Chinese for education and Moroccans for family reasons
The reasons for residence permits being issued differ between citizenships. Among the top 10 citizenships granted
permits in the EU in 2016, Ukrainians benefited from residence permits mainly for employment reasons (82.7% of
the first residence permits issued to Ukrainians in 2016). Chinese (66.9%), US citizens (46.5%) and Brazilians
(41.6%) were given residence permits mainly for education reasons, while Moroccans (69.8%) benefited from
residence permits issued mainly for family reasons, as did Turks (41.2%).

Main citizenships of persons granted first residence permits in the EU by reason, 2016
Total
#
TOTAL

Of which:
Family reasons
#

3 355 506

779 301

Ukraine

588 927

Syria

348 082

United States
India
China
Morocco

%

Education reasons Employment reasons
#

%

#

%

Other reasons
#

%

23.2%

694 648

20.7%

852 747

25.4% 1 028 810

30.7%

32 507

5.5%

25 873

4.4%

487 181

82.7%

43 366

7.4%

47 837

13.7%

2 326

0.7%

1 037

0.3%

296 882

85.3%

250 936

20 862

8.3%

116 745

46.5%

41 465

16.5%

71 864

28.6%

198 359

53 240

26.8%

32 082

16.2%

56 839

28.7%

56 198

28.3%

195 612

32 122

16.4%

130 828

66.9%

19 628

10.0%

13 034

6.7%

100 529

70 147

69.8%

11 865

11.8%

10 317

10.3%

8 200

8.2%

Philippines

93 762

11 168

11.9%

1 392

1.5%

12 814

13.7%

68 388

72.9%

Russia

79 397

25 884

32.6%

21 432

27.0%

14 141

17.8%

17 940

22.6%

Turkey

67 076

27 662

41.2%

21 654

32.3%

6 021

9.0%

11 739

17.5%

Brazil

63 610

19 772

31.1%

26 431

41.6%

8 778

13.8%

8 629

13.6%

 Geographical information
The European Union (EU) includes Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece,
Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
In this News Release, data for China include Hong Kong.

Methods and definitions
The data in this release are provided to Eurostat by Ministries of the Interior or Justice, or immigration agencies, of the Member
States. These administrative data are supplied by Member States according to the provisions of Article 6 of the Regulation (EC)
862/2007 of 11 July 2007 on Community statistics on migration and international protection.
First residence permit means a residence permit issued to a person for the first time. A residence permit is considered as a
first permit also if the time gap between the expiry of the previous permit and the start of validity of the new permit is at least 6
months.
Residence permit means any authorisation valid for at least 3 months issued by the authorities of a Member State allowing a
non-EU citizen to stay legally on its territory. When national laws and administrative practices of a Member State allow for
specific categories of long-term visa or immigration status to be granted instead of residence permits, such visas and grants of
statuses are also included in these statistics.
Statistics on first residence permits presented in this report refer to non-EU citizens only and include persons subject to an
authorisation to stay with a validity of at least 3 months and consequently these statistics are different than statistics on
migration to the reporting countries (according to migration statistics a migrant is a person who stays or intends to stay in the
country for at least 12 months).
Other reasons include permits issued for residence only (e.g. pensioners with sufficient financial means), international
protection status (including refugee status and subsidiary protection), humanitarian reasons, permits issued to non-asylum
related unaccompanied minors, victims of trafficking in human beings and other reasons not specified (e.g. beneficiaries of
national regularisation programmes).
Country note: United Kingdom
The statistics for the United Kingdom use different data sources to those used in other Member States. For that reason,
statistics for the UK presented in this News Release may not be fully comparable with other statistics presented here. Statistics
for the United Kingdom are not based on records of residence permits issued (as the United Kingdom does not operate a
system of residence permits), but instead relate to the numbers of arriving non-EU citizens permitted to enter the country under
selected immigration categories. According to the United Kingdom authorities, data are estimated from a combination of
information due to be published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 'Control of Immigration: Statistics, United Kingdom' and
unpublished management information. The 'Other reasons' category includes: diplomat, consular officer treated as exempt from
control; retired persons of independent means; all other passengers given limited leave to enter who are not included in any
other category; non-asylum discretionary permissions.

For more information
Eurostat website section dedicated to statistics on managed migration
Eurostat database on managed migration
Eurostat metadata on residence permits statistics
Eurostat Statistics Explained article on residence permits statistics

Issued by: Eurostat Press Office

Production of data:

Vincent BOURGEAIS
Tel: +352-4301-33 444
eurostat-pressoffice@ec.europa.eu

Piotr JUCHNO
Tel: +352-4301-36 240
piotr.juchno@ec.europa.eu

ec.europa.eu/eurostat

@EU_Eurostat

EurostatStatistics

Media requests: Eurostat media support / Tel: +352-4301-33 408 / eurostat-mediasupport@ec.europa.eu