Only permits issued for other reasons – which may concern pensioners or people in need of temporary protection – saw a 1 percent decline.
The main reason for new residence permits across the EU was employment, followed by family, education and other purposes.
Spain issues highest numberAmong EU countries, the highest number of first-time residence permits issued in 2025 was by Spain (635,438 permits), followed by Germany (605,292), Poland (467,314), Italy (433,099) and France (377,462).
AdvertisementEducation purposesSome 600,000 new residence permits were issued in 2025 for education purposes, or 15 percent of the total.
EU countries also issued first residence permits to more than 91,000 …