Many foreigners wish to get residency to any of the European Union countries because of the benefits it offers. Having a residence permit in the EU allows a person to travel without needing a visa and get access to the country’s services for the people. These benefits clearly made its impact in the latest tally of Eurostat about the number of people who applied for residence permits in the EU.

Eurostat on EU Residence Permit

On Friday, the Eurostat released its latest assessment about the number of people who applied for a residence permit in the region. In their assessment, Cyprus issued a total of 20,999 first residence permits to non-EU citizens last year. It places them as the second highest issuer of the permit in the EU.

Out of these numbers, 3784 are Indians, 3,402 are Russians and 2,087 are Syrians. Most of the applicants, or 9,771 of them, applied for professional reasons, while others are for family, education and others.

The Eurostat also said that last year, the region gave 3.2 million residence permits to non-EU citizens. The numbers increased by 0.4%, which is in line with the growing trend in the past three years. Almost 28% of the region’s numbers are for family applications, followed by employment, education and asylum. In comparison to 2017, education was the top reason why residence permits were given to non-EU citizens.

Malta has the highest rate of first permits issued to non-EU citizens in 2018. They gave 36 permits per thousands of population. Cyprus (24), Poland (17), Slovenia (14) and Luxembourg (13) were next in the list. Overall, the EU gave 6 permits per thousand population for 2018.

Meanwhile, Poland became the EU country with permits issued for employment for last year. Around 328,000 permits are available to non-EU citizens aiming to work in the country. For education, the UK gave out 190,000 permits. Germany has the highest number of permits issued for other reasons with 219,000 permits given to refugees and those seeking humanitarian protection.

Cyprus Travel Tips

Cyprus has a lot of great destinations for tourists to check out when they have a chance to check it out. They can check the official tourism portal of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism for information. Visa details can be checked in the visa page of Cyprus in this link.

For those who wish to work in the country, we have an article on the average and minimum salary in Nicosia.

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Some migrants have the opportunity to petition for their families to follow them to their new home. It often takes a few months or years for them to process and sometimes, it can cost a lot of money. But, it keeps families together after it is approved. However, in New Zealand, high skilled migrants may reconsider bringing their parents to the country thanks to the new Parent Visa costs.

Parent Visa Details

In an announcement on Saturday, the government announced that high skilled migrants with residency permits can apply for a parent visa to the country starting February 2020. However, for them to be able to apply for the visa, they will need to reach a certain financial requirement.

The migrant in question and their partner will need to have a minimum combined income of $212,160. Once they reach this income, they will be able to sponsor their parents to New Zealand.

Previously, the financial threshold is around $90,000.

The new threshold for the parent visa has met several opposition from the migrants in the country. According to Gourav Sharma, a migrant who came to New Zealand under the Identified Future Growth Area Visa, the requirement is hard to meet. He says that only a few jobs in the country can help migrants earn $100,000 and more. He also says it is culturally insensitive as some cultures do not support having parents sent to old age or retirement homes.

Some migrants, Sharma shares, are already looking for ways to relocate out of New Zealand.

Business consultant and recruitment industry specialist James Walker also supported the views of migrants about the new visa. He said that many migrants may opt to look for other countries to work into and have a more attainable means to get their parents over to stay with them.

According to the Minister for Immigration Iain Lees-Galloway, they reopened the parent category after the last government closed it. However, when it was closed, he said that people’s lives were put on limbo and found it unfair. The tighter criteria will ensure parents are fully supported and it is only for highly skilled migrants.

Work in New Zealand

If you wish to work in New Zealand, you can check out the official website of New Zealand Immigration. You may also read up on the new work visa changes in the same website.

In this site, we have a guide on how you can find work in New Zealand if you are interested.

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