France Issues Record Number of Residence Permits, Moroccans Top Recipients

The many hostile speeches against illegal immigration in several countries have not prevented European countries from issuing a record number of new residence permits in 2019, reports SchengenVisaInfo. In total, nearly 3 million new residence permits were issued by the 27 European Union member states to third-country nationals (excluding European countries). This is the highest figure in 10 years, an increase of 5.8% compared to 2018 (+163,000 permits).

Ukrainians occupy the top rank of beneficiary countries for new residence permits in 2019, with 757,000 new permits, or 25.6% of the residence permits issued last year. They are followed by Moroccans, who received 133,000 new residence permits (4.5% of the total) and Indians who recorded 131,000 new residence permits (4.4% of the total).

Regarding the new residence permits issued by France in 2019, Morocco ranks first among the countries that obtained the most new permits (34,979) followed by Algerians (27,405).

More than 90,000 new residence permits for studies were granted in 2019 by France, the leading destination for students, or 22.6% of the residence permits for study purposes issued by the EU. In addition, 40.5% of the new residence permits issued (1.2 million permits) are related to employment. They are followed by 810,000 residence permits issued for family reasons (27.4% of the total) and 400,000 permits issued for studies (13.5% of the total).