Cyprus: silver medal for residence permits
Cyprus finished in the silver medal position for issuing the second highest number of first residence permits to non-EU citizens in the 27 EU member states during 2019.
According to Eurostat, Cyprus, which issued 26.4 permits per 1,000 of its population, was robbed of the gold medal by Malta, which issued 42 permits. The bronze medal went to Poland; trailing in third place issuing 19.1 permits relative to its population.
Eurostat estimates that an average of 6.6 first residence permits were issued per 1,000 of the population across all EU members states in 2019; Cyprus issued four times that number.
The five largest groups issued with first residency permits by Cyprus were:
- Indian citizens 4,665;
- Russian citizens 3,114;
- Nepalese citizens 2,812;
- Syrian citizens 2,040;
- Philippine citizens 1,958.
(A first residency permit enables a non-EU citizen to stay for at least three months in the EU member state’s territory.)
Source: www.news.cyprus-property-buyers.com/2020/11/30/silver-medal-residence-permits/id=00160904
