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EU issued 2.3 mln first residence permits in 2014: official data

Xinhua, October 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

European Union member states issued 2.3 million first residence permits to non-EU citizens in 2014, official data showed on Tuesday.

The number was slightly lower than in 2013 and down by 9 percent compared with 2008, said Eurostat, EU's statistics agency.

People from Ukraine, the United States, China and India were the main recipients. A third of all new residence permits issued in the EU in 2014 were issued to citizens of these four countries. Among the total, 169,700 Chinese citizens were granted permits, accounting for 7.4 percent.

Non-EU citizens were given residence permits for varied reasons: family, education, employment and others. For Chinese, 59.4 percent were given residence permits for education reasons, according to Eurostat.

Meanwhile, London became the most appealing destination. Of the 169,700 Chinese citizens granted residence permits, almost 45 percent were registered in Britain. Endit