Poland has retained its status as the main destination for Ukrainians who apply for a residence permit in the EU outside the temporary protection mechanism: in 2025, this country accounted for 72% of all first residence permits issued to Ukrainian citizens in the European Union, according to Eurostat data.
In total, Ukrainians received 335,096 thousand first residence permits in EU countries. Based on Poland's share, there are approximately 241,000 permits issued to Ukrainians by the Polish authorities.
Such a concentration clearly distinguishes Ukrainian migration from other large groups of citizens of third countries. For comparison: Poland also became the main destination for Belarusians and issued 87.1% of all first residence permits received by citizens of Belarus in EU countries.
For Ukrainians, the main reason for obtaining a residence permit remains employment. Moreover, 86.3% of all first residence permits granted to Ukrainians in the EU for the purpose of work were issued by Poland itself.
Poland itself in 2025 issued 467,300 first residence permits to citizens of countries outside the EU, ranking third in the European Union after Spain and Germany.
At the same time, in terms of the number of work-related permits, Poland remains the absolute leader of the EU: the country had 318,200 first work and residence permits were issued. Eurostat notes that among their main recipients were citizens of Ukraine and Belarus.
Statistics of the first residence permits do not take into account Ukrainians who are in Poland or other EU countries on the basis of temporary protection.
