EU residence permit issuances in 2021 touches pre-COVID levels

Highlights of EU Residence Permits

• A significant increase in EU residence permit issuances touched pre-pandemic numbers for the first time in 2021.
• The increase in permits issued was mainly driven by employment, the major reason for immigration in the EU.
• Of the 2,952,300 total permits issued 1.3 million permits were issued for employment.

In 2021, the number of first residence permits issued by EU member countries together reached close to the number of permits issued before the pandemic.

The increasing number of EU residence permit issuances is indicative of an important fact. It shows that EU member nations are keen to invite more skilled immigrants. Though the increase in the number of permits issued happened related to different categories of immigrants, the overall result looks promising for potential immigrants like you.

A delve into the findings

Poland was among the countries that issued the highest number of residence permits. It issued permits mostly related to work-based immigration to the EU member state. France welcomes mostly foreign students.

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is not over in the EU yet. Nevertheless, the number of first residence permits issued to non-EU citizens in the EU member nations increased by 31% to 2,952,300 in 2021.In 2019, this was 2,955,300 permits. This shows that the revival of immigration in the EU is happening in an apparently promising manner.

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The main area in which the increase in permits issued was seen was employment. In 2021, residence permits issued for employment accounted for 1.3 million. The next area was education.

Poland issued close to one million first residence permits. This was 33% of the EU bloc's total number of permits issued. Of the total permits issued, 790,100 were work-related. This included 666,300 Ukrainians. They were granted permits on the basis of bilateral agreements.

Other countries that followed included France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. In all, the six EU member states contributed about three-quarters of the total residence permits issued in the EU in 2021.

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Counting the number of international students who migrated to the EU, the highest number of permits were issued by France. In France, 90,600 first permits were issued in 2021. Most of those went to Chinese citizens.

Factors like historical and linguistic links, geographical proximity, or an established migrant network drove the decision of immigration for many new immigrants. This was revealed by Eurostat.

What’s in it for you?

If you are interested in finding the career and life that you consider optimal in Europe, try immigrating to a country like Germany. As EU member states are working on increasing their count of immigrants, finding your opportunity for a better life could be the wisest thing to do today.

If you are willing to migrate to Germany or other EU member nations, talk to Y-Axis, the leading immigration and career consultant in the UAE.

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