Ukrainian citizens in the EU

Data extracted in November 2022.

No planned article update.

Highlights

1.57 million Ukrainian citizens were authorised to stay in the EU at the end of 2021, representing the third biggest group of non-EU citizens, behind citizens of Morocco and Türkiye.

Poland, Italy and Czechia reported the largest number of Ukrainians holding a valid residence permit at the end of 2021.

In relation to the size of their population, Czechia, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Slovakia were the EU Member States with the largest number of Ukrainian citizens holding valid residence permits at the end of 2021.

Number of Ukrainians holding a valid residence permit at the end of 2021
Source: Eurostat (migr_resvalid), (migr_pop1ctz) and (demo_pjan)

Introduction: the situation before Russia’s invasion in 2022

In the context of Russia’s illegal military aggression against Ukraine and the considerable inflows of Ukrainian refugees to the European Union (EU) since 24 February 2022, this article presents Eurostat data on migration concerning Ukrainian citizens. It covers the period between 2013 and 2021, which includes the period of the conflict in the Donbas region and the illegal annexation of the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol by Russia.

Statistics on valid residence permits provide insights into the numbers of Ukrainians in the EU before the start of Russia’s illegal military aggression and their main characteristics (geographical distribution, sex and age profile and reasons for receiving residence permits).

The pre-Russian illegal military aggression picture is complemented by the total number of Ukrainians who acquired citizenship of one of the EU Member States between 2010 and 2020.

The article finishes with statistics on Ukrainian asylum seekers. These data provide an indication about their destination in the EU and the protection received.

Ukrainian citizens authorised to stay in the EU

At the end of 2021, 1.57 million Ukrainian citizens held a residence permit in one of the EU Member States. Of these, 1.2 million had a residence permit with a duration of at least 12 months.

Data on residence permits of at least 12 months reflect the more permanent Ukrainian diaspora in the EU; the total number of residence permits also includes Ukrainians authorised to stay on a more temporary basis (less than 12 months), typically for seasonal or short-term work or for education reasons.

Figure 1: Ukrainians holding a valid residence permit in the EU at the end of the year, 2013–2021
(1 000)
Source: Eurostat (migr_resvalid) and (migr_pop1ctz)

At the end of 2021, Ukrainian citizenship was the third most common non-EU citizenship for the total number of residence permits in the EU and for residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months; for both measures, the largest numbers were for citizens of Morocco and Türkiye.

At the end of 2013, Ukrainians were ranked in 4th position behind citizens of Morocco, Türkiye and Albania for the total number of residence permits and in 6th position for residence permits for at least 12 months, also behind citizens of China and Algeria.

Figure 1 shows a quite regular upward trend between 2013 and 2021 for the total number of residence permits held by Ukrainians as well as for those with a duration of at least 12 months. The overall growth rate between 2013 and 2021 was 85.7 % for all residence permits and 77.0 % for those with a duration of at least 12 months.

In absolute values, this development over eight years reflected an increase of 724 000 residence permits held by Ukrainian citizens in the EU; for residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months there was an increase of 512 000. These absolute differences were the third highest among any non-EU citizenships, behind those for Syrian and British citizens both for the total number of residence permits (up 816 000 for Syrians and 805 000 for British citizens) and for residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months (up 811 000 for Syrians and 798 000 for British citizens).

Table 1: Ukrainians holding a valid residence permit at the end of the year, 2013–2021
Source: Eurostat (migr_resvalid), (migr_pop1ctz) and (demo_pjan)

In five EU Member States, the total number of Ukrainians holding residence permits increased between 2013 and 2021 by more than 25 000: Poland (up 476 000), Czechia (up 86 000), Hungary (up 50 000), Slovakia (up 48 000) and Lithuania (up 29 000) – see Table 1. Collectively, the increases in these five Member States were equivalent to 95.1 % of the increase observed across the whole of the EU.

The number of Ukrainians holding residence permits decreased in three EU Member States between 2013 and 2021: Germany (down 27 000), Portugal (down 14 000) and Italy (down 3 000). In Italy, this drop was due to a decline in short-term residence permits (as the number of residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months increased) whereas in Germany and Portugal a large part of the fall in the total number was due to a fall in the number of residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months. Nevertheless, the decreases between 2013 and 2021 in the number of Ukrainians holding residence permits in Germany, Portugal and Italy were more than offset by the number of acquisitions of citizenship (see Figure 4 below for more information on the acquisition of citizenship).

Concerning Ukrainians with residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months, the number increased in the EU between 2013 and 2021 by 512 000. This was mainly due to increases in the same five EU Member States as for all residence permits: Poland (up 256 000), Czechia (up 89 000), Hungary (up 48 000), Slovakia (up 43 000) and Lithuania (up 29 000). Poland accounted for approximately half (50.1 %) of the increase in the EU in the number of Ukrainians holding residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months during the period 2013–2021; for comparison, Poland accounted for 65.7 % of the increase in the EU in the total number of Ukrainians holding residence permits during the same period.

Figure 2: EU Member States’ shares in the total number of Ukrainians holding a valid residence permit in the EU at the end of the year, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (migr_resvalid) and (migr_pop1ctz)

More than two thirds (68.5 %) of Ukrainian citizens in the EU holding a residence permit at the end of 2021 resided in one of three EU Member States: Poland (41.5 %), Italy (14.7 %) and Czechia (12.3 %) – see Figure 2. Concerning Ukrainians with a residence permit with a duration of at least 12 months, three fifths (59.9 %) of those in the EU resided in the same three EU Member States: Poland (24.2 %), Italy (19.5 %) and Czechia (16.2 %). It can be noted that the share in Poland was substantially (17.3 percentage points) higher when considering also residence permits with a duration of less than 12 months, not just those with a duration of at least 12 months; this is mainly due to residence permits for seasonal and temporary work by Ukrainians in Poland. Poland accounted for 93.1 % of the 393 000 residence permits with a duration of less than 12 months held by Ukrainians in the EU at the end of 2021.

In relative terms (see Figure 3), the ratio of Ukrainian citizens holding a residence permit per 1 000 inhabitants was above the EU average (3.5 per 1 000) in nine EU Member States: Czechia (18.1 per 1 000), Poland (17.2), Lithuania (11.8), Estonia (10.7), Slovakia (9.9), Hungary (6.5), Cyprus (5.1), Latvia (4.8) and Italy (3.9). When considering residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months, this pattern remained almost the same, although the ratio was considerably lower in Poland (7.5 per 1 000, compared with 17.2 per 1 000) and the ratio was marginally higher in Latvia than in Cyprus.

Figure 3: Number of Ukrainians holding a valid residence permit at the end of the year relative to population size, 2021
(per 1 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (migr_resvalid), (migr_pop1ctz) and (demo_pjan)

Acquisition of citizenship

Ukrainian citizens acquiring citizenship of one of the EU Member States can also be considered as part of the Ukrainian diaspora present in the EU. Figure 4 shows the total number of Ukrainians who acquired citizenship of an EU Member State between 2010 and 2020. The total number for the EU as a whole was 184 000, equivalent to 11.8 % of the total number of Ukrainians holding a residence permit in the EU at the end of 2020.

Figure 4: Number of Ukrainians acquiring citizenship of an EU Member State between 2010 and 2020
(number)
Source: Eurostat (migr_acq)

More than 20 000 Ukrainians acquired citizenship between 2010 and 2020 in four EU Member States: Germany (43 000), Portugal (28 000), Poland (23 000) and Italy (22 000). Collectively, these four Member States accounted for more three fifths (63.0 %) of the total number of acquisitions in the EU.

Reasons why Ukrainians stay in the EU

Figures 5a and 5b give the reasons for which residence permits that were valid at the end of 2021 had been issued to Ukrainians: the first figure is for all permits and the second for those with a duration of at least 12 months. For both durations, the main reason for issuing a permit was in relation to employment (57.3 % for all permits and 47.5 % for those with a duration of at least 12 months). This was followed by family reasons (20.0 % and 26.3 % respectively) and other reasons (19.6 % and 24.2 % respectively). Note that other reasons is a residual category which could include long-term residence permits delivered without specific reasons or permits for residence only. Education and the provision of the refugee and subsidiary protection status represented relatively small shares as can be seen in Figures 5a and 5b.

Figure 5a: Distribution by reason for issuing the permit of Ukrainians holding a valid residence permit at the end of the year, EU, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (migr_resvalid)

Figure 5b: Distribution by reason for issuing the permit of Ukrainians holding a valid residence permit with a duration of at least 12 months at the end of the year, EU, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (migr_resvalid)

The main difference between both figures is the significantly lower share of employment reasons in the number of residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months, reflecting once again the high number of short-term work-related residence permits with a duration less than 12 months delivered by Poland to Ukrainians.

The scatterplot in Figure 6 shows the shares for two selected reasons – employment and family – among all reasons for which residence permits (valid at the end of 2021) with a duration of at least 12 months had been issued. For the EU as a whole, the shares were 26 % for family reasons and 47 % for employment reasons.

Estonia, Greece, Austria and Slovenia are situated in the lower left quadrant, with below EU average shares for both selected reasons; this indicates that reasons such as education, refugee and subsidiary protection status or other reasons were more common in these EU Member States.
In Italy and Malta, the shares for both selected reasons were above average, indicating that reasons such as education, refugee and subsidiary protection status or other reasons were less common.
Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Croatia are situated in the upper left quadrant, indicating that the share for employment reasons was above the EU average while the share for family reasons was below the EU average.
By contrast, there were 15 EU Member States in the bottom right quadrant, with above average shares for family reasons and below average shares for employment reasons.

Figure 6: Shares of family and employment reasons in all valid residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months held by Ukrainians at the end of the year, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (migr_resvalid)

First residence permits

The number of (valid) residence permits held by Ukrainian citizens on a reference date provides an estimate of the number of Ukrainians in the EU, while the number of first residence permits issued to Ukrainian citizens in a reference year gives an estimate of the size of legal immigration flows of Ukrainians into the EU.

First residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months give an indication of long-term legal immigration, whereas the number of first residence permits with a duration of less than 12 months is related to short-term immigration.

Figure 7: Number of first residence permits issued to Ukrainians, EU, 2013–2021
(1 000)
Source: Eurostat (migr_resfirst)

Figure 7 shows the development of the total number of first-residence permits issued by EU Member States, with a distinction by duration.

The number of first residence permits delivered to Ukrainian citizens followed an unbroken upward trend from 2014 to 2017 for both durations of residence permits. There was a fall in 2018 for permits with a duration of less than 12 months while the number of first residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months continued to increase. Both durations of first residence permits recorded increases in 2019 and 2021, separated by falls in 2020 reflecting at least in part the impact of the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The annual average growth rate for the total number of first residence permits issued to Ukrainians was 18.3 %; for first residence permits with a duration of least 12 months the rate was 18.7 % and for shorter first residence permits it was 18.1 %.

In 2021, the total number of first residence permits issued to Ukrainians was 876 000, of which 173 000 (19.7 % of the total) were first residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months and 703 000 (80.3 % of the total) were first residence permits with a duration of less than 12 months. For both durations of first residence permits, these were the highest numbers of permits issued in the EU to non-EU citizens in 2021.

Over the period 2013–2021, 5.1 million first residence permits were delivered to Ukrainians, of which 968 000 (18.8 %) had a duration of at least 12 months.

Table 2 presents similar data for the EU Member States. The considerable share of Poland (83.5 %) in the total number of first residence permits issued in the EU stands out, as does the difference between this share and Poland’s equivalent but much smaller share (32.3 %) for first residence permits issued with a duration of at least 12 months. This reflects the fact that only 7.3 % of first residence permits issued by Poland to Ukrainians between 2013 and 2021 had a duration of at least 12 months. In most other Member States (exceptions were Cyprus, Finland, Croatia and Austria), a majority of first residence permits were issued with a duration of at least 12 months.

After Poland, Czechia (22.7 % of the EU total) and Hungary (9.5 %) issued the highest numbers of first residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months between 2013 and 2021. Altogether, these three EU Member States issued close to two thirds (64.5 %) of all first residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months issued in the EU between 2013 and 2021.

Table 2: First residence permits issued to Ukrainians, 2013–2021
Source: Eurostat (migr_resfirst)

Population of Ukraine

From 2015 onwards, the data on Ukraine’s population provided by Ukrainian statistical authorities exclude the illegally-annexed and temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol as well as part of the temporarily occupied territories of the self-proclaimed separatist entities of Donetsk and Luhansk. This exclusion explains the drop of almost 2.5 million observed between 1 January 2014 and 1 January 2015. This sharp fall took place within a more general downward trend in the Ukrainian population, as can be seen in Figure 8. From 2015 to 2021, the size of the Ukrainian population contracted by 1.3 million, an overall fall of 3.1 %.

Figure 8: Population of Ukraine on 1 January, 2013–2021
(million)
Source: Eurostat (demo_pjan)

Figure 9: Population of Ukraine on 1 January, by sex and age, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (demo_pjan)

The age and sex structure presented in Figure 9 indicates some other characteristics of the Ukrainian population. The share of females on 1 January 2021 was 53.7 %, which was 2.6 percentage points higher than in the EU. This imbalance between the share of males and females results from the difference in the shares of Ukrainian males and females aged 45 years or over and reflects the high mortality of males. The share of young people (aged less than 30 years) was slightly smaller in Ukraine (30.8 % of the total population) than in the EU (31.4 %). As such, Ukraine has an aging population. People aged less than 15 years or aged 60 years or over together made up 39.6 % of the Ukrainian population as of 1 January 2021, representing 16.4 million people.

Figure 10: Distribution by age and sex of Ukrainians with a valid residence permit at the end of the year, EU, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (migr_resvas) and (migr_pop1ctz)

Figure 10 analyses the age and sex structure of Ukrainian citizens holding residence permits for EU Member States at the end of 2021. The analysis by sex was almost balanced: the share of males was 50.1 % for the total number of Ukrainians with a residence permit. Nevertheless, the age structures were quite different for the two sexes. For the younger age groups within the economically active population, the share of men in the population was clearly greater than the share for women: 13.4 % compared with 10.7 % for people aged 15–29 years, 19.5 % compared with 15.4 % for people aged 30–44 years.

When comparing the age structure for residence permits with that for the Ukrainian population (as shown in Figure 9), the share of children aged 0–14 years among Ukrainians holding a residence permit in the EU was substantially lower (7.9 percentage points lower) than observed for the population of Ukraine (15.2 %). By contrast, Ukrainian citizens aged 15–59 years with a residence permit from an EU Member State were over-represented (83.6 % of the total number of residence permits) compared with the same age range within the Ukrainian population (60.4 %).

First-time asylum applicants

Data on first-time asylum applicants show the number of Ukrainians who lodged a first application for international protection in the EU.

In the context of Russia’s illegal military aggression against Ukraine since February 2022, it must be highlighted that Ukrainian refugees may directly benefit from a temporary protection status ^[1] which provides comparable protection to refugee status. Although enjoying this right, the refugees will not have to lodge an asylum application until the temporary protection status is terminated. Therefore, unless they formally apply for international protection they will not be considered as asylum applicants in the strict sense. Most importantly, this article focuses on the situation in or up to 2021.

Figure 11: Number of Ukrainian first-time asylum applicants, EU, 2013–2021
(number)
Source: Eurostat (migr_asyappctza)

The development in the numbers of Ukrainian asylum applicants (see Figure 11) from 2013 reveals a sharp increase leading up to a peak in 2015 corresponding to the illegal annexation of the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol by Russia and the beginning of the conflict in the Donbas region. The peak number of Ukrainian first-time asylum applicants in the EU was 20 565 in 2015. Thereafter, the number of applicants decreased over several years to 5 130 in 2020 before rising slightly in 2021 to reach 5 360. Over the entire period from 2013 to 2021 (see Table 3), 82 000 Ukrainians lodged an asylum application in one of the EU Member States. Among them, 51.6 % were males while 24.2 % were minors (below the age of 18 years).

The main places of application for asylum by Ukrainians between 2013 and 2021 were Italy (17 755), Spain (14 900), Germany (14 095), France (10 475), and to a lesser extent Sweden (6 070) and Poland (5 305). These six EU Member States collectively recorded an 83.6 % share of all first-time applications in the EU.

Only in four EU Member States were there fewer first-time asylum applications from male Ukrainians than from female Ukrainians between 2013 and 2021: Bulgaria (48.5 % were males), Italy (42.4 %), Greece (40.1 %) and Cyprus (32.8 %). The highest shares of males were recorded in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Czechia and Denmark, all between 66.0 % and 68.2 %.

For the period 2013–2021, the highest share of minors among Ukrainian first-time asylum applications in the EU Member States was in Austria (39.3 %; 2014–2021). Shares over 30.0 % were also reported by Germany, Slovenia and Estonia. The lowest share of minors was recorded in Greece (11.6 %).

As of the end of 2021, 7 485 Ukrainian asylum seekers were waiting for a decision on their applications.

Figure 12: EU Member States’ shares in the total number of Ukrainian first-time asylum applicants, 2013–2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (migr_asyappctza)

Table 3: Ukrainian asylum applicants, 2013–2021
Source: Eurostat (migr_asyappctza) and (migr_asypenctzm)

Asylum decisions

Data on asylum decisions provide information on the outcome of the asylum applications lodged by Ukrainian citizens at first instance and at final instance after an appeal against the preceding decision. Decisions are classified into several categories.

Positive decisions, of which
- refugee status (uniform EU status)
- subsidiary protection status (uniform EU status)
- protection for humanitarian reasons (national status)
Negative decisions

The development of the total number of positive decisions concerning Ukrainian asylum applicants is presented in Figure 13, along with a division between first and final instance decisions. The overall total shows particularly high values in 2015, 2016 and 2017, representing a lag of approximately one year compared with the highest values observed for asylum applications (see Figure 11).

A peak of 3 150 positive decisions was recorded in 2016 after which the number of decisions declined to 1 220 in 2020. A relatively sharp rise was observed in 2021 as the number of positive decisions increased by more than half to reach 1 885. Most positive decisions for Ukrainians were taken at first instance, with the proportion fluctuating between 69 % and 95 %.

Figure 13: Positive decisions concerning the granting of protection status to Ukrainian asylum applicants, EU, 2013–2021
(number)
Source: Eurostat (migr_asydcfsta) and (migr_asydcfina)

Between 2013 and 2021 (see Table 4), 16 100 positive decisions were issued to Ukrainian asylum seekers across EU Member States: 13 665 (84.9 %) were taken in first instance and 2 435 in final instance.

Average recognition rates (positive decisions as a share of all decisions) between 2013 and 2021 for Ukrainian asylum seekers in the EU were 19.0 % at first instance and 9.5 % at final instance. At first instance, recognition rates over 40.0 % were recorded in five EU Member States: Portugal (78.4 %), Estonia (61.3 %), Malta (54.3 %), Slovakia (50.0 %) and Italy (46.3 %). At final instance, only in Ireland (66.7 %) and Italy (58.2 %) were recognition rates over 40.0 %.

Based on these rates and the number of asylum seekers, Italy was the EU Member State that issued the highest number of positive decisions between 2013 and 2021: there were 8 115 positive decisions in Italy, representing 50.4 % of the total number of positive decisions issued in the EU (see Figure 14). France accounted for 13.0 % of the positive decisions taken in the EU followed by Spain (8.9 %) and Germany (5.4 %). Most of the positive decisions issued by Italy were taken for humanitarian reasons based on national legislation.

Table 4: Decisions on asylum applications lodged by Ukrainians, 2013–2021
Source: Eurostat (migr_asydcfsta) and (migr_asydcfina)

Figure 14: EU Member States’ shares in the total number of positive decisions issued to Ukrainian asylum applicants, 2013–2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (migr_asydcfsta) and (migr_asydcfina)

Methodological notes

Data on residence permits, including residence permits with a duration of at least 12 months, are based on administrative decisions. These are therefore not directly comparable with international migration statistics which are based on the concept of usual residence and include intra-EU immigration flows, the number of births and deaths in the migrant population and emigration flows.
In most cases, France does not issue residence permits to children under 18 years.

Source data for tables and graphs

*

Ukrainian citizens in the EU: tables and figures

Data sources

Residence permit and asylum statistics are based on administrative sources and are supplied to Eurostat by national statistical offices, interior ministries or immigration agencies, as required by Regulation (EC) No 862/2007.

More information on this data collection can be found in the following explanatory texts and methodological articles.

Residence permits

Residence permits (ESMS metadata file – migr_res_esms)
Residence permits – a methodological and analytical overview

Asylum

Applications (ESMS metadata file – migr_asyapp_esms)
Asylum statistics introduced

Eurostat aims to collect data on population for 1 January of each year. The recommended definition is the usually resident population and represents the number of inhabitants in a given area on 1 January of the reference year. The population statistics transmitted by national authorities to Eurostat under Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 on European demographic statistics can be based either on data from the most recent census (adjusted by the components of population change produced since the last census) or on population registers.

More information on this data collection can be found in the metadata for population statistics.

The collection of data on the data on the acquisition of citizenship is defined by Regulation (EC) No 862/2007. The classification of groups of the EU, EFTA and candidate countries are given in implementing Regulation (EU) No 351/2010.

More information on this data collection can be found in the metadata for acquisition and loss of citizenship statistics.

Definitions

Statistics on resident permits are available as flows and stocks.

Data on residence permits granted during the reference year (flows): the data published under this category contain information about first residence permits issued during the reference year and any change of resident status for immigrants during the reference year.
Data on residence permits valid at the end of the reference year (stock of (valid) residence permits): the data published under this category contain information on the number of valid permissions to stay at the end of the reference year and long-term legal resident status at the end of the reference year.

A residence permit in the EU means any authorisation with a duration of at least three months issued by the authorities of an EU Member State that allows a non-EU citizen to stay legally on its territory.

According to Article 6.2 of Council Regulation (CE) No 862/2007, when an EU Member State’s national laws and administrative practices allow for specific categories of long-term visa or immigration status to be granted instead of residence permits, such visas and grants of statuses are also included in these statistics.

First residence permit corresponds to one of the following cases:

if no residence permit has previously been issued by the EU Member State to the person concerned, a first permit is every permit issued by the Member State authority to the non-EU citizen with at least three months validity;
if a residence permit has previously been issued by the EU Member State to the person concerned, a first permit is a permit (with at least three months validity) issued by the Member State authority six months or more after the previous permit expired, regardless of the year in which it was issued.

Asylum applicant means a person who has submitted an application for international protection or has been included in such an application as a family member during the reference period.

Application for international protection means an application for protection as defined in Article 2(h) of Directive 2011/95/EU. This is a request for protection by an EU Member State made by a non-EU citizen or stateless person who can be understood to seek refugee status or subsidiary protection status, and who does not explicitly request another kind of protection, outside the scope of this directive, that can be applied for separately. This definition is intended to refer to all who apply for protection on an individual basis, regardless of (i) whether they lodge their application on arrival at an airport or land border, or from inside the country and (ii) whether they entered the territory legally (for example, as a tourist) or illegally (see Article 4.1 (a) of the regulation).

First instance decisions consider applications for international protection as well as authorisations to stay for humanitarian reasons, including decisions under priority and accelerated procedures taken by administrative or judicial bodies in EU Member States.

Final decisions are taken by administrative or judicial bodies on appeal or in review and are no longer subject to remedy. The statistics on final decisions refer to what is effectively a final decision: in other words, that all normal routes of appeal have been exhausted.

Usual residence means the place where a person normally sleeps, regardless of temporary absences for purposes of recreation, holidays, visits to friends and relatives, business, medical treatment or religious pilgrimage; or, if this cannot be proven , it is the place of legal or registered residence. Only the following people are considered to be usual residents in a geographical area:

those who have lived in their place of usual residence for a continuous period of at least 12 months before the reference time; or
those who arrived in their place of usual residence during the 12 months before the reference time with the intention of staying there for at least one year.

Acquisition of citizenship in the EU is when a person who has their usual residence in an EU Member State is granted citizenship of that Member State, having previously held the citizenship of another Member State or non-EU country, or was stateless.

Citizenship means the particular legal bond between an individual and their state, acquired through birth or naturalisation, whether by declaration, choice, marriage or other means according to national legislation.

Context

Since 24 February 2022, Russia’s illegal military aggression against Ukraine has caused a serious humanitarian crisis and a mass inflow of displaced people from Ukraine who are unable to return to their country or region of origin.

To offer rapid, effective assistance to these people, on 2 March 2022 the European Commission proposed to trigger temporary protection under Council Directive 2001/55/EC (Temporary Protection Directive). This directive lays down the decision-making procedure needed to trigger, extend or end temporary protection. It applies when there is a risk that a mass inflow of claimants could overwhelm the standard asylum system. On 4 March 2022, the Council unanimously adopted Decision (EU) 2022/382 introducing such temporary protection.

Under this directive, those fleeing the military aggression against Ukraine will be granted temporary protection in the EU, meaning that they will be given a residence permit and have access to labour markets, education (for minors), opportunities for family relocation and social welfare.

With the entry into force of the Council decision, people who fled from Ukraine may apply for temporary residence permits as of 4 March 2022. The Council decision applies to the following categories of people displaced from Ukraine on or after 24 February 2022:

Ukrainian citizens residing in Ukraine before 24 February 2022;
stateless persons and citizens of non-EU countries other than Ukraine, who benefited from international protection or equivalent national protection in Ukraine before 24 February 2022; and
family members of the people referred to in the first two categories, even if they are not Ukrainian citizens.

The Temporary Protection Directive lays down uniform rights for the beneficiaries of temporary protection, including:

a residence permit for the entire duration of the protection (which can last between one and three years);
appropriate information on temporary protection;
access to employment;
access to accommodation or housing;
access to social welfare or means of subsistence;
access to medical treatment;
access to education for minors;
opportunities for families to reunite in certain circumstances; and
guarantees of access to the normal asylum procedure.

Specific rules have been drawn up for unaccompanied minors and for those having undergone particularly traumatic experiences (such as sexual, physical or psychological violence).

More detailed information is available from the European Commission’s web page on temporary protection.

Requirements for reporting statistics on temporary protection already exist in Article 4(1)(c) and 4(3)(e) of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007. These were implemented for the first time with the transmission of data on international protection for the first quarter of 2022: these are available on Eurostat’s online database. The first annual data (for 2022) are expected by 31 March 2023.

To respond to emerging users’ needs, in April 2022 Eurostat launched a voluntary data collection of more frequent and timely statistics on temporary protection; March 2022 was the first reference month. The following monthly data are collected and published online by Eurostat:

grants of temporary protection during the reference month (flows)
beneficiaries of temporary protection at the end of the month (stocks).

Notes

↑ Temporary protection means an exceptional procedure in the event of a mass inflow or imminent mass inflow of displaced people from non-EU countries who are unable to return to their country of origin. It provides immediate and temporary protection to these people, in particular if there is also a risk that the asylum system – unable to process this inflow – will become overburdened; this temporary protection is regarded as being in the interests of the large number of new people and other people requesting protection.

Explore further

Database

Dedicated section

Methodology

Residence permits (ESMS metadata file – migr_res_esms)
Applications (ESMS metadata file – migr_asyapp_esms)
Population (ESMS metadata file – demo_pop_esms)
Acquisition and loss of citizenship (ESMS metadata file – migr_acqn_esms)

External links

[1] Temporary protection means an exceptional procedure in the event of a mass inflow or imminent mass inflow of displaced people from non-EU countries who are unable to return to their country of origin. It provides immediate and temporary protection to these people, in particular if there is also a risk that the asylum system – unable to process this inflow – will become overburdened; this temporary protection is regarded as being in the interests of the large number of new people and other people requesting protection.

[1]