Data reveals that employment reasons formed the majority of permits, followed by family reasons, other motives including international protection, and education-related permits.
Data reveals that employment reasons formed the majority of permits, followed by family reasons, other motives including international protection, and education-related permits.
European Union member states granted a record-breaking 3.7 million first residence permits to non-EU citizens in 2022, marking a 26 percent increase from the previous year, recent data by the European Union Office for Statistics Eurostat revealed.
The surge is the highest since 2009, surpassing the pre-pandemic level of 3.0 million, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported.
According to the data, among the various purposes for which these first residence permits were granted, employment reasons took the lead, constituting over 42 percent of the total. This category experienced an 18 percent increase compared to the previous year, reflecting the evolving dynamics of the European job market.
Additional insights from Eurostat’s data highlighted the distribution of permits according to their reasons. Family-based reasons accounted for 24 percent of the overall permits granted, while other motives, including international protection, made up 21 percent.
Education-related purposes stood at 13 percent, with the remaining categories experiencing notable surges.
Meanwhile, “other reasons” witnessed a remarkable increase of 37 percent, leading to the issuance of an additional 209,074 permits. Education-related permits followed suit with a rise of 33 percent, and family-related permits displayed a noticeable increase of 26 percent.
When examining individual countries within the EU, Germany stood out as the top issuer of first residence permits. The country granted a total of 538,690 permits in 2022. Spain followed suit, issuing over 300,000 initial permits, while Italy granted 337,788 permits and France granted 324,200 permits.
The most remarkable growth in permit issuance was observed in Germany, where the total count surged by a staggering +190 percent. This increase, from 185,570 in 2021 to 538,690 in 2022, can primarily be attributed to a significant rise in permits granted for family and other reasons. Other countries that experienced notable growth included Malta with a +164 percent increase and Ireland with a +146 percent surge.
On the flip side, certain countries witnessed declines in the total number of permits issued. Czechia faced a notable decrease of -28 percent, Slovakia experienced a modest 6 percent decrease, and Hungary saw a minimal 1 percent decrease.
Eurostat’s data also unveiled interesting patterns in terms of specific destinations for various permit categories. For work-related permits, Spain led the pack with 145,314 permits, followed by Germany with 81,795 and Italy with 66,791.
As for family reasons, Germany issued the most permits (188,367), followed by Spain (168,804) and Italy (131,275). Germany also dominated in the category of other reasons, issuing 198,456 permits, followed by Italy with 114,256.
Finally, in education-related permits, France took the lead by issuing 104,777 permits, followed by Germany (70,072) and Spain (58,636).
