Eurostat

Residence permits data contain statistical information based on Article 6 of Council Regulation (CE) No 862 of 11 July 2007 with reference to:first permits granted to third-country nationals during the reference year, disaggregated by citizenship, reason for the permit being issued and by the length of validity of the permit; permits granted during the reference period on the occasion of person changing immigration status or reason to stay, disaggregated by citizenship, reason for the permit being issued and by the length of validity; permits valid at the end of the reference period, disaggregated by citizenship, reasons for the permit being issued and by the length of validity; number of long-term residents at the end of reference period. Statistics on EU Blue Cards contain information based on the Article 20 of the Council Directive 2009/50/EC of 25 May 2009 on:EU Blue Cards granted, renewed and withdrawn;Admitted family members of EU Blue Cards holders;EU Blue Cards holders and family members by Member State of previous residenceStatistics on Single permits contain information based on the Article 15 (2) Directive 2011/98/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on a single application procedure for a single permit for third-country nationals to reside and work in the territory of a Member State and on a common set of rights for third-country workers legally residing in a Member State. Eurostat collects data on first permits granted to third-country nationals (persons who are not EU citizens) during the reference year and data on permits valid at the end of the reference period. Statistics are disaggregated by citizenship, reason for the permit being issued and by the length of validity of the permit. In addition, Eurostat collects data on permits granted during the reference period on the occasion of the person changing immigration status or reason for stay (disaggregated by reason for the new permit being issued) and on the number of long-term residents at the end of the reference period. Since the 2010 reference year, data on first permits issued, stock of all valid permits and the number of long-term residents are additionally collected with a voluntary disaggregation by age (5-year age groups) and sex. These statistics are collected by Eurostat on an annual basis. Data are entirely based on administrative sources with the exception of the United Kingdom1 and are provided mainly by the Ministries of Interior or related Immigration Agencies. Data are generally disseminated in June and July in the year following  the  reference year. The indicators presented in the table 'Long-term residents among all non-EU citizens holding residence permits by citizenship on 31 December (%)' are produced within the framework of the pilot study related to the integration of migrants in the Member States, following the Zaragoza Declaration. The Zaragoza Declaration, adopted in April 2010 by EU Ministers responsible for immigrant integration issues, and approved at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 3-4 June 2010, called upon the Commission to undertake a pilot study to examine proposals for common integration indicators and to report on the availability and quality of the data from agreed harmonised sources necessary for the calculation of these indicators. In June 2010 the ministers agreed "to promote the launching of a pilot project with a view to the evaluation of integration policies, including examining the indicators and analysing the significance of the defined indicators taking into account the national contexts, the background of diverse migrant populations and different migration and integration policies of the Member States, and reporting on the availability and quality of the data from agreed harmonised sources necessary for the calculation of these indicators". These indicators are produced on the basis of residence permit statistics collected by Eurostat on the basis of Article 6 of the Migration Statistics Regulation 862/2007. As a denominator data on the stock of all valid permits to stay at the end of each reporting year are used. As a numerator data on the stock of long-term residents are used.  Two types of long term residents are distinguished in accordance with the residence permit statistics: EU long-term resident status (as regulated by the Council Directive 2003/109/EC) and the National long-term resident status (as regulated by the national legislation in the Member States). Data for some countries may be a subject of revisions due to certain inconsistencies between categories. 1Please note that the statistics for the United Kingdom use different data sources to those used in other Member States. For that reason, the statistics on residence permits published by Eurostat for UK may not be fully comparable with the statistics reported by other countries. Statistics for the United Kingdom are not based on records of residence permits issued (as the United Kingdom does not operate a system of residence permits), but instead relate to the numbers of arriving non-EU citizens permitted to enter the country under selected immigration categories. According to the United Kingdom authorities, data are estimated from a combination of information due to be published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 'Control of Immigration: Statistics, United Kingdom' and unpublished management information. The 'Other reasons' category includes: diplomat, consular officer treated as exempt from control; retired persons of independent means; all other passengers given limited leave to enter who are not included in any other category; non-asylum discretionary permissions.