permessi di soggiorno in UE

Residence permits issued to non-EU citizens in 2009

In 2009, EU Member States issued about
2.3 million new residence permits to third
country nationals, i.e. to non-EU citizens, a
number that represents a decline of about
0.2 million compared with 2008.
About 660 000 new permits, that is 28.2 % of the
EU total, were granted for reasons related to
family, 646 000 (27.6 %) for employment and
510 000 (21.8%) for education purposes.
Compared with 2008, the number of new
permits issued for employment (which was the
main reason in 2008) fell by 142 000. Also the
number of permits issued for family reasons fell
between 2008 and 2009, but to a lesser extent
(-26 000), while permits for education increased
by 53 000.
The EU Member State that granted the largest
number of permits was the UK (671 000),
followed by Italy (507 000), Spain (291 000) and
France (193 000). Compared to the size of the
resident population, however, the highest
relative number of permits was issued by
Cyprus (32.0 permits for every 1000 residents).
At EU level, the groups of third country
nationals who received the most authorisations
to reside in EU Member States were Indians
(191 000), followed by US citizens (175 000),
Chinese (171 000) and Moroccans (158 000).
The highest number of permits for family
reasons was granted to Moroccans (78 000),
while the highest number of permits related to
education was granted to Chinese (73 000) and
the highest number of permits for employment
purposes to Indians (65 000).