Citizens of Ukraine received 335,100 first residence permits in EU countries in 2025, taking first place among citizens of all countries outside the EU, according to Eurostat data.
Ukrainians accounted for 8.7% of all first residence permits issued in the EU to citizens of third countries. The second place was taken by the citizens of India - 227.6 thousand, or 5.9%, the third - Morocco with 202.1 thousand, or 5.2%.
Compared to 2024, the number of first residence permits issued to Ukrainians increased by 13.6%. A year earlier, there were about 295,000 of them. Thus, despite the continuation of the temporary protection mechanism, the flow of Ukrainians who move or initially prepare other grounds for legal residence in the EU remains significant.
The main reason for obtaining the first residence permit by Ukrainians was work. According to Eurostat, approximately two-thirds of the permits issued to Ukrainian citizens in 2025 were related to employment.
Poland remained the main destination: it accounted for 72% of all the first residence permits issued to Ukrainians in the EU.
At the same time, Eurostat separately emphasizes that these figures do not include persons enjoying temporary protection in connection with the full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine. Temporary protection is taken into account in separate statistics, so 335.1 thousand permits reflect other reasons for residence — primarily work, family, education and other categories.
In general, EU countries issued about 3.9 million first residence permits to citizens of third countries in 2025.
