In 2015, 2.6 million first residence permits were issued in the EU to non-EU passport-holders, according to figures published on 28 October by Eurostat, the highest since records began in 2008. The figures are up 12.1% on 2014.
The rise is explained by the number of first permits issued due to employment (+23.5%). Family regrouping remained the leading cause of permit issuing in 2015 (28.9%), followed by jobs (27.2%), other reasons (23.8%) and education (20.2%).
The United Kingdom and...