The European Union issued around 3.9 million first residence permits to non-EU citizens in 2025, setting the highest annual level since Eurostat’s records began in 2008.
The latest figures, released by Eurostat on 11 September 2026, show that the number of first permits increased by 10.1% compared with 2024, equivalent to 355,350 additional permits in a single year. Employment was the largest reason for granting a first permit, while family migration remained the second-largest route.
The figures provide a detailed picture of legal residence routes into the EU. They show large differences between member states, both in the number of permits granted and in the reasons for issuing them.
Spain and Germany together issued more than 1.2 million first permits. Poland remained particularly important for employment migration, while France was the biggest destination in absolute terms for education-related permits.
At nationality level, citizens of Ukraine, India and Morocco received the largest numbers of first permits. Brazil and Pakistan also moved into Eurostat’s top 10 nationalities in 2025.
What “First Permit” Means
The figures need to be understood correctly.
Eurostat defines a residence permit for these statistics as an authorisation valid for at least three months that allows a non-EU citizen to stay legally in an EU member state. Certain long-term visas or immigration statuses can also be included where national systems use them instead of conventional residence permits.
A “first residence permit” normally means a permit issued to someone for the first time. However, Eurostat also treats a permit as a first permit when the person previously held a permit but there is a gap of at least six months between the expiry of the old permit and the beginning of the new one for the same reason.
That distinction is important. The 3.9 million figure therefore measures first residence permits under Eurostat’s statistical definition, rather than simply counting 3.9 million people who had never previously lived in the EU.
Record Permit Total
Eurostat says the roughly 3.9 million first permits issued in 2025 represented the highest level recorded since the series began in 2008.
Compared with 2024, the total increased by 355,350 permits, or 10.1%. Three major categories contributed to the increase:
- Employment permits increased by 179,701, or 16.1%.
- Family-related permits increased by 133,941, or 14.1%.
- Education permits increased by 49,623, or 9.0%.
The only main category to decline was “other reasons”, which includes international protection and other forms of legal residence. This category fell by 7,915 permits, or 0.9%.
In rounded terms, the 2025 total consisted of approximately 1.3 million employment permits, 1.1 million family permits, 0.9 million permits for other reasons and 0.6 million education permits.
Work Leads Growth
Employment accounted for 33.6% of all first residence permits issued in the EU during 2025, making it the largest single category.
Family reasons represented 28.1%, while other reasons, including international protection, represented 22.8%. Education accounted for the remaining 15.5%.
The distribution was far from uniform across Europe.
Employment was the most common reason for issuing first permits in 13 EU countries. Croatia had the highest employment share, with 93.0% of its first permits connected to work. It was followed by Romania at 81.5%, Lithuania at 78.5% and Portugal at 77.4%.
In absolute terms, Poland issued the largest number of employment-related first permits, with 318,186.
Portugal issued 240,523, Spain 115,040 and Germany 108,091.
Those four countries alone issued 60.3% of all employment-related first permits in the European Union during 2025.
Family Migration
Family formation and reunification were the leading reasons for first residence permits in eight EU countries.
Family permits represented more than 40% of all first permits issued in six countries: Luxembourg 56.7%, Sweden 50.5%, Finland 48.3%, Belgium 47.4%, Spain 43.4% and Italy 40.8%.
Spain issued the largest absolute number of family-related first permits at 275,869. Germany followed with 225,591, Italy with 176,876, and France with 90,959.
Student Permits
Education was the most common reason for granting first residence permits in only three EU member states.
In Ireland, education accounted for 47.6% of first permits. The corresponding proportion was 36.7% in Denmark and 31.4% in France.
Looking instead at absolute numbers, France was the largest destination for education-related first permits, issuing 118,404. Germany issued 112,500, while Spain issued 105,419.
Other Reasons
Eurostat’s “other reasons” category includes international protection as well as other forms of residence, including certain permits granted to people such as pensioners.
It was the leading category in three countries during 2025: Greece, where it represented 54.8% of first permits; Estonia, at 45.8%; and Austria, at 38.4%.
Unlike employment, family and education permits, this category decreased slightly across the EU compared with 2024.
Spain Leads EU
Spain issued more first residence permits than any other EU country in 2025. It granted 635,438 permits, accounting for 16.5% of the EU total. Germany came a close second with 605,292, or 15.7% of the total.
Poland issued 467,314, representing 12.1%, followed by Italy with 433,099, or 11.2%, and France with 377,462, or 9.8%. Together, these five countries accounted for 65.2% of all first residence permits issued across the EU.
That means nearly two-thirds of first permits were concentrated in just Spain, Germany, Poland, Italy and France.
Biggest Increases
Portugal recorded by far the largest percentage increase between 2024 and 2025. Its first permits rose from 121,872 in 2024 to 310,639 in 2025, an increase of 154.9%.
Romania followed with an increase of 30.7%, from 57,111 to 74,664.
Italy recorded a 25.0% increase, rising from 346,411 to 433,099 permits.
Slovakia increased 24.9%, from 18,959 to 23,686.
Eurostat also recorded notable increases of 19.9% in Bulgaria and 14.0% in Cyprus.
There is, however, an important statistical warning concerning Portugal. Eurostat identifies a break in the series for Portugal’s 2025 employment-related data. The large Portuguese increase should therefore be interpreted with that methodological qualification in mind.
Biggest Decreases
Not every EU country recorded an increase.
Croatia experienced the largest percentage reduction among those highlighted by Eurostat. Its first residence permits fell from 89,809 in 2024 to 50,963 in 2025, a decline of 43.3%.
Greece recorded a 20.6% decrease, falling from 87,932 to 69,786.
Austria’s total fell by 15.5%, from 65,668 to 55,486.
This variation shows why the EU-wide increase should not be interpreted as a uniform rise across every member state.
Permits Per Population
Eurostat also compared first residence permits with the size of each country’s population.
Across the EU, there were approximately nine first residence permits for every 1,000 people in 2025.
Malta recorded the highest ratio, with 57 permits per 1,000 people, followed by Cyprus with 47 and Portugal with 27.
At the other end of the scale, Slovakia, Czechia, Romania, Estonia and Bulgaria each recorded four first residence permits per 1,000 people.
These population-adjusted figures give a different perspective from the absolute totals. Large countries such as Spain and Germany dominate the raw numbers, while smaller member states can have much higher permit rates relative to their populations.
Men and Women
Men received a larger share of EU first residence permits than women in 2025. Males represented 55.7% of the total, compared with 44.3% for females.
Eurostat’s breakdown by reason shows a particularly clear difference in employment and family migration.
Employment permits issued to males represented 22.8% of all first permits, compared with 10.8% for females.
For family reasons, the pattern was reversed: female family-related permits represented 16.4% of the overall total, compared with 11.7% for males.
Education was almost evenly divided, with male education permits representing 7.9% of the total and female permits 7.6%.
For other reasons, males represented 13.3% of all permits, compared with 9.5% for females.
These percentages are shares of the overall number of first permits, rather than percentages within each sex.
Top Nationalities
Ukrainian citizens received the largest number of first residence permits during 2025: 335,096, equal to 8.7% of all first permits issued in the EU.
Indian citizens ranked second with 227,577 permits, or 5.9%, followed by Moroccan citizens with 202,054, or 5.2%. Eurostat’s chart gives the following rounded totals for the top 10 citizenships:
| Citizenship | First permits | Education | Employment | Family | Other |
| Ukraine | 335,100 | 4.2% | 64.7% | 17.5% | 13.6% |
| India | 227,600 | 26.6% | 44.6% | 20.5% | 8.3% |
| Morocco | 202,100 | 20.8% | 20.9% | 47.9% | 10.4% |
| Brazil | 170,400 | 11.5% | 64.5% | 16.8% | 7.3% |
| Belarus | 147,600 | 2.9% | 56.6% | 5.5% | 34.9% |
| Colombia | 137,900 | 18.8% | 27.9% | 37.7% | 15.5% |
| Türkiye | 127,200 | 17.9% | 21.5% | 35.7% | 24.8% |
| China incl. Hong Kong | 125,300 | 31.7% | 26.2% | 20.9% | 21.2% |
| Syria | 107,600 | 1.9% | 3.1% | 37.7% | 57.3% |
| Pakistan | 98,300 | 18.4% | 26.4% | 34.5% | 20.8% |
Eurostat notes that percentages in the chart may not add exactly to 100% because of rounding.
The figures show very different migration patterns. Employment dominated among Ukrainians, Brazilians, Belarusians and Indians. Family was the largest reason among Moroccans, Colombians, Turkish citizens and Pakistanis. Education was the largest category among Chinese citizens in the top-10 comparison, while “other reasons” dominated among Syrians.
Pakistan Enters Top 10
One notable development for a South Asian audience is that Pakistan entered the EU’s top 10 citizenships for first residence permits in 2025, along with Brazil. Bangladesh and Afghanistan dropped out of the top 10 compared with the previous ranking.
Among Pakistanis receiving first residence permits, 34.5% were granted them for family reasons, the largest category. Employment accounted for 26.4%, other reasons 20.8%, and education 18.4%.
For Indians, the pattern was considerably more employment- and education-oriented: 44.6% of first permits were related to employment and 26.6% to education.
Nationality Changes
Among nationalities that were already among the major groups in earlier years, Colombia recorded one of the strongest increases.
Compared with 2024, first permits issued to Colombian citizens increased by 43.4%. India recorded an increase of 18.4%, Türkiye 14.0%, and Ukraine 13.6%.
The two decreases highlighted by Eurostat among these established top nationalities were Syria, down 42.1%, and Belarus, down 15.5%.
Where Migrants Went
The figures also reveal strong links between particular nationalities and particular EU destinations.
Poland issued 72.0% of all EU first permits received by Ukrainian citizens and 87.1% of those received by Belarusian citizens.
Spain was the principal destination for Moroccan citizens, accounting for 43.8% of their EU first permits.
Germany was the principal destination for Indians, receiving 21.5% of their permits, while Portugal accounted for 67.9% of permits issued to Brazilians.
Eurostat points to several factors behind these patterns, including geographic proximity, historical and linguistic connections and established migrant networks.
Examples include strong Ukrainian and Belarusian links with Poland, Moroccan links with Spain and France, Latin American links with Spain, Brazilian links with Portugal and established Turkish migration networks in Germany.
Routes By Nationality
Looking more closely at particular permit routes provides another layer of detail. Moroccans were the largest nationality receiving family-related first residence permits, and 51.7% of those Moroccan family permits were issued by Spain.
Indian citizens were the largest group receiving education-related permits, with 39.5% of Indian education permits issued by Germany.
For employment, Ukrainians and Brazilians were particularly concentrated in individual member states. Poland issued 86.3% of employment-related first permits received by Ukrainians, while Portugal issued 90.3% of those received by Brazilians.
Among permits classified under other reasons, Afghans were the largest group, and 41.9% of those permits were granted in Germany.
Existing Permit Stock
First permits measure annual flows. Eurostat separately measures the stock of residence permits that remain valid at the end of the year.
At the end of 2025, non-EU citizens held approximately 27.8 million valid residence permits across the EU.
Family reunification was the largest reason for these existing permits, accounting for 32.4% of the total.
Moroccan citizens held the largest stock, approximately 2.2 million permits, followed by Turkish citizens with 2.0 million and Ukrainians with 1.7 million.
The difference between 3.9 million first permits and 27.8 million valid permits is therefore important: the former is an annual flow measure, while the latter represents permits still valid at the end of 2025.
Ukraine Exclusion
Another major methodological point concerns Ukrainians receiving temporary protection.
People benefiting from the EU’s temporary protection system are not included in these residence-permit statistics. Eurostat collects temporary-protection figures separately because temporary protection has a different administrative status from the residence authorisations included in these statistics.
Therefore, the 335,096 first permits issued to Ukrainian citizens should not be confused with the much broader number of Ukrainians living in EU countries under temporary protection.
Data Limitations
Eurostat obtains the statistics from national authorities, principally interior ministries, home affairs ministries and immigration agencies. The figures are administrative data collected under EU migration-statistics legislation.
Eurostat nevertheless warns that national systems are not fully harmonised in every methodological respect, meaning comparisons should sometimes be treated with care.
The agency identifies breaks in individual data series, including Portugal’s employment statistics in 2025.
Eurostat also attaches a low-reliability warning to Irish residence-permit data. Irish authorities have reported limitations associated with older information systems involving the police and Department of Justice, including the absence of unique identifiers and the need for manual checks. Ireland is modernising those systems.
These qualifications do not invalidate the EU-wide findings, but they are important when interpreting individual national figures.
What Data Shows
The 2025 statistics point to three major developments.
First, the EU recorded its highest annual number of first residence permits since the series began in 2008.
Second, employment was the largest route and the fastest-growing major category, rising 16.1% from 2024.
Third, legal migration remained highly concentrated geographically. Spain, Germany, Poland, Italy and France accounted for 65.2% of all first permits, while particular nationalities continued to have strong links with particular destinations.
For migrants and prospective applicants, however, the statistics should not be interpreted as a change in visa or residence rules. They are historical statistics describing permits issued during 2025, not an announcement of a new EU-wide visa scheme, new eligibility rules or a new right to residence.
Source and Files by Eurostats and Immigration Expert Umer Rasib.