Three million first residence permits were issued by the 27 European Union Member States in 2019, the most recent report of Eurostat has unveiled.
Data published by the European statistical office shows that over a quarter of the total of residence permits granted last year were obtained by citizens of Ukraine, who in total were granted 757,000 permits or 25.6 per cent of the total number of first residence permits issued in the EU-27.
The countries listed below follow as the countries the nationals of which received most EU-27 first residence permits:
- Morocco – 133,000, or 4.5 per cent
- India – 131,000, or 4.4 per cent
- China (including Hong Kong) – 110,000, 3.7 per cent
- Brazil – 101,000, or 3.4 per cent
- Syria, Russia, Turkey, the United States and Belarus, each of them with less than 100,000 permits issued
First permits issued to these ten countries, including Ukraine, represent 54.9 per cent of all first residence permits issued by the EU-27 governments in 2019.
Eurostat’s report also points out that Ukraine is not only the third-country with most beneficiaries of first residence permits, but has also marked a swift growth in this regard, with an increase of 122,000 between 2018 and 2019, an increase of 19.3 per cent.
“The next highest increases were recorded for citizens of Brazil (up 22,000) and India (up 12,000),” the report notes.
On the other hand, data shows that the number of first residence permits issued to citizens of Syria and the United States between 2018 and 2019 dropped in particular for the citizens of Syria, for whom there were 76,000 fewer permits issued in 2019, almost half less than the previous year.
Poland – the Main Destination for Ukrainian Citizens
79.2 per cent of all residence permits issued to Ukrainians in the EU-27 in 2019 were granted by Poland. The same was also a favourite residence destination for Belarus as well since it issued 77.2 per cent of all residence permits issued to citizens of the latter.
According to Eurostat, 660,000 of Ukrainians who were granted a residence permit in the EU-27 in 2019 received their permit for employment-related reasons, which represents almost nine-tenths (87.2 per cent) of Ukrainians that received such a permit.
“In 2019, Ukrainians were granted the largest number of residence permit in the EU-27 for employment-related reasons (660,000), of which the vast majority (83.6 per cent) were granted in Poland,” the report notes adding that Indians followed with 50,000 permits and Belarusians with 41,000.
Ukrainians, at the same time, were the third-largest group receiving residence permits for family-related reasons, with 40,000 first residence permits obtained, immediately after Moroccans (79,000), Indians (41,000).
Factors Influencing EU-27 Destination Chosen by Third-Country Citizens
Eurostat has unfolded some of the main factors that affect a particular national group to apply for a high number of residence permits in a particular EU-27 country, including the reason why so many Ukrainians move to Poland every year.
These factors are as follows:
- Geographical proximity – Here fall all national groups who usually move to neighbouring countries, as:
- a high number of Ukrainians sought residence in Poland
- a high number of Moroccans sought residence in Spain
- Historical and linguistic links – This category includes all national groups that, i.e. speak the same language with the country where they are migrating to, or have other historical links as:
- a high number of Venezuelans, Colombians and Peruvians sought residence in Spain
- a high number of Moroccans, Algerians and Tunisians sought residence in France
- a high number of Brazilians, Angolans and Cape Verdeans sought residence in Portugal
- Established migrant networks – Here fall national groups that join their already established community in one particular EU-27 country, for example, a high number of Turkish citizens sought residence in Germany due to the large Turkish community there.