EU countries set a new record of issuing the most first residence permits in the year. Last year, overall, about 3.7 million of these. This is a 4.1% increase in comparison with last year.
Eurostat which issues the statistics of long-term and short-term visas issued by the EU countries, released this data on 12 September.
As expected most of the residence permits (33.1%) were issued for employment purposes. Followed by Family Reunion counting above 26%. International protection caused about 25% of the total residence permits issued whereas education reasons went up to 14%.
Ukraine, Belarus, and Indian nationals grabbed most of the first residence permits issued back in 2023. On the other hand, Poland, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France were the EU countries that granted most of these temporary stay visas.
Lithuania, Croatia, and Romania in 2023 observed the largest relative increases in the number of residence permits issued compared with 2022. On the other hand, Malta and Cyprus had the highest number of permits issued per 1,000 residents, and on the contrary, Romania and Bulgaria reported the lowest rates of permits per 1,000 population.
First residence permits granted in 2023
a) Work Permits
Altogether 1.3 million work permits were granted last year which makes it to one-third of the total issued visas (33.8%). This shows a slight decrease of 0.4% (-4,662) compared to 2022. Work permits are granted by all EU countries against a job offer secured. Skilled workers and semi-skilled workers are in high demand in almost all member states in the local labor market.
b) Family Reunification
Family reunification was the second most demanding immigration stream. About 986,453 family visas were granted which makes it 26.4% of the total issued.
The number of family reunification visas increased by 6.4% (+58,943) from the previous year.
c) International protection and asylum
International protection for refugees was the third most demanding immigration stream. About 956,646 residence permits were granted which makes it to 25.6% of the total issued. These numbers grew by 5.3% (+48,406) in comparison to 2022.
d) Student Visas
Education-related residence permits accounted for about 14.3% of the total issued. This makes it to 534,558 in total. This category has the largest growth of 13.5% (+63,674) in comparison to 2022.
Countries that were granted most residence permits
Following are the countries that were granted the most residence permits in 2023:
- Ukraine: 307,313
- Belarus: 281,279
- India: 207,966
Residence permits issued to countries against reasons
| Third Countries | Top Reason for Residence Permit | Percentage of issued residence permits |
| Ukraine | Employment | 71.7% |
| Belarus | Employment | 52.3% |
| India | Employment | 45.2% |
| Türkiye | Employment | 31.8% |
| Syria | Other (International Protection) | 77.3% |
| Afghanistan | Other (International Protection) | 85.1% |
| Morocco | Family | 50.3% |
| Russia | Family | 39.4% |
| Brazil | Family | 35.3% |
| China | Education | 37.8% |
The EU countries that issued most residence permits
In 2023, most of the first residence permits were issued by Poland which reached up to 642,789 and that makes it 17.2% of the total issued visas. Germany remained at number two by issuing 586,144 (15.7%) residence permits. Followed by Spain at 548,697 (14.7%) Italy at 389,542 (10.4%) and France at 335,075 (9%). The complete list of the EU countries as per the Eurostat data is as follows:
