Most 2021 residence permits given to Russians

Cyprus issued a total of 22,190 new residence permits in 2021, the largest number of which went to Russians, according to Eurostat figures released on Wednesday.

Some 3,432 of the permits went to Russians, 2,929 to Syrians, 2,744 to Indians, 2,628 to Nepalese, 1,784 to Filipinos, 1,496 to Sri Lankan nationals and and 1,133 to Ukrainians.

The number was significantly up on 2020 when 16,910 residence permits were granted, mainly to citizens of the same countries as 2021.

In 2019 some 23,325 permits were granted.

The total permits granted, 9,800 were for work purposes mainly to citizens of Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and India), 6,085 were granted for “other reasons” including international protection mainly to Syrians, 3,281 were for educational purposes to citizens of India, Nepal and Bangladesh and 3,024 for family reasons, mainly to citizens of Russia and Ukraine.

Across the EU in 2021, more than 2.9 million new residence permits were issued, an increase of 31 per cent over 2020, and on a par with 2019. Almost half of the permits issued in 2021 were for work purposes, the largest number of issued in this category since data collection began, Eurostat said.

Also, the vast majority were given to Ukrainians and 83 per cent of those were issued by Poland.

The only countries to see a decreases in residence permits in 2021 were Germany (down 41 per cent), Lithuania (down 7 per cent) and Croatia (down 4 per cent).