Residence permit is the permission from EU-countries to citizens of non-EU nations (also known as third country nationals) to stay for at least 3 months on the territory.
In line with Eurostat, 18,971 non-EU citizens were granted residence permits by Cyprus, in 2017. Citizens of India and Russia is the majority to which residence permits were granted.
The analysis of the residence permits that were granted to non-EU citizens by Cyprus, in 2017:
India – 4,710 (24.8%)
Russia – 2,883 (15.2%)
Nepal – 1,406 (7.4%)
Philippines – 1,317 (6.9%)
Sri Lanka – 1,200 (6.3%)
Others – 7,455 (39.3%)
Regarding Europe in total, employment opportunities, family reunification and educational opportunities are among the major purposes for issuing permits, according to the report.
The applicants declaring ‘Other reasons’ as their purpose for a residence permit in an EU-country, have the right to stay in that territory, although they are not permitted for work or international protection.
Also, the citizens of Ukraine (662 thousand) were provided with the highest number of permits by EU-nations while, the second highest number was Syrian citizens (223 thousand).
source: Eurostat
