Eurostat: Ukrainians constitute a quarter of the first holders of residency permits in the EU-27 in 2019

The 27 Member States of the European Union granted three million first residence permits in 2019, the most recent Eurostat report revealed.

According to data released by the European Statistical Office, more than a quarter of the total number of residence permits issued last year is obtained by residents of Ukraine with a total of 757 000 permits, or 25,6% of the total number of first residence permits granted in the EU-27.

The countries listed below are the countries whose citizens have earned most of the first EU-27 residency permits:

• Morocco-133,000, or 4.5%
• India-131,000, or 4.4%,
• China (Hong Kong included)-110,000, 3.7 per cent
• Brazil-101,000, or 3.4%,
• Syria, Russia, Turkey, the United States of America and Belarus, each with fewer than 100,000 authorized permits,

First residence permits issued to these 10 countries, including Ukraine, account for 54.9% of all first residence permits issued in 2019 by the EU-27 governments.

Eurostat's study also points out that Ukraine is not only the third country with the largest number of first residence permit recipients, but that it has also undergone rapid growth in this regard, with a rise of 122,000 between 2018 and 2019, an increase of 19.3%.

"For citizens of Brazil (up 22,000) and India (up 12,000), the next highest increases were recorded," the report states.

On the other hand, data show that between 2018 and 2019, the number of first residence permits issued to citizens of Syria and the United States decreased, particularly for citizens of Syria, for whom 76,000 fewer permits were issued in 2019, almost half of which was less than the previous year.

Poland-Ukrainian citizens' key destination

Poland awarded 79.2 per cent of all 2019 residence permits given to Ukrainians in the EU-27. It was also a favorite residence destination for Belarus, as 77.2% of all residence permits issued to residents of Belarus were issued.

According to Eurostat, 660,000 Ukrainians who were issued an EU-27 residence permit in 2019 were granted an employment-related permit, comprising almost nine-tenths (87.2%) of those Ukrainians who were granted such a permit.

"In 2019, for employment-related reasons, Ukrainians were granted the largest number of residence permits in the EU-27 (660,000), of which the vast majority (83.6%) were granted in Poland," the study states, adding that Indians followed with 50,000 permits and Belarusians with 41,000.

At the same time, Ukrainians were the third largest group to acquire family residence permits, with 40,000 first residence permits received, immediately after Moroccans (79,000) and Indians (79000) (41,000).

Factors influencing the EU-27 Third-Country Citizens' Preferred Destination

In order to apply for a high number of residence permits in a specific EU-27 region, Eurostat has developed some of the key factors affecting a specific national community, including the reason why so many Ukrainians move to Poland every year.

These influences are as follows:

• Geographical proximity All national groups that normally travel to neighboring countries collapse here, as follows:
  • A significant number of Ukrainians have applied for residency in Poland
  • A significant number of Moroccans were seeking residence in Spain,
• Historical and linguistic ties-This category includes all national groups that speak or have other historical links with the country to which they are migrating, i.e. the same language as:
  • A significant number of residents from Venezuela, Colombia and Peru sought residency in Spain
  • Moroccans, Algerians and Tunisians sought residency in France for a significant number of
  • In Portugal, a significant number of Brazilians, Angolans and Cape Verdeans were finding residence
• Established migration networks-For example, a large number of Turkish people have sought residence in Germany because of the large Turkish community there, national groups joining their already established community in one specific EU-27 country.