Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
F2: Population and Migration
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
23 January 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
23 January 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
23 January 2025
3.1. Data description
Within the broader statistical domain of residence permits statistics, the statistics on student and researchers, and trainees, volunteers, pupils and au pairs (SR statistics) refer to non-EU citizens receiving an authorisation to reside under the framework of Directive (EU) 2016/801 on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects and au pairing (Hereinafter “SR Directive”).
The authorisation to reside for study, research or other categories refers to the residence permit or long-stay visa entitling its holder to reside for a period exceeding 90 days in one of the EU Member States for one of the following reasons: research, studies, training or voluntary service in the European Voluntary Service. Member States may also decide to apply the provisions of Directive (EU) 2016/801 to third-country nationals who apply for admission for the purpose of a pupil exchange scheme or educational project, voluntary service other than the European Voluntary Service or au pairing. This data collection cover also the authorisations to reside under this directive issued to the family members of researchers.
SR statistics refer to four main topics:
SR authorisations (by a first Member State);
Residence permits for family members of researchers;
Notifications pursuant to Article 28(2), Article 30(2) or Article 31(2) of Directive (EU) 2016/801;
Authorisations for long-term mobility of researchers and their family members (pursuant to Articles 29 and 30(3) of Directive (EU) 2016/801).
Denmark is not bound by Directive (EU) 2016/801 and this directive is not applicable for EFTA countries. Ireland is not bound by SR Directive but remains bound by Directive 2005/71/EC. Ireland is therefore expected to provide statistics only in relation to researchers.
Data source
Data is based on administrative sources, provided mainly by the Ministries of Interior or related immigration agencies. Generally, the dissemination of data occurs in July of the year following the reference year, contingent on the availability and quality of the data.
See the Annex 1 Residence Permits Technical Guidelines including the guidelines on SR statistics.
Starting from 2025, the residence permits and EU directives data collection now includes six metadata files in total. Countries are required to submit six distinct files. For those that have not yet provided the updated six files, the previous metadata format, included in the annex of this metadata file (Annex 2), remains available as a reference.
3.2. Classification system
Classification for the "citizenship" category is based on the ISO-3166 code list (using alpha-2) with minor changes. These differences consist of minor changes that have occurred over time to reflect the creation of new countries or citizenships. In some cases, these citizenship categories are not universally recognised but are used by some Member States in the data supplied to Eurostat. A further case is that of "Recognised non-citizen" – a category introduced by Eurostat to cover a "person who is not a citizen of the reporting country nor of any other country, but who has established links to that country including some but not all rights and obligations of full citizenship. Recognised non-citizens are not included in number of EU citizens." This category is used in Eurostat's population and migration statistics.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Migration and asylum – Residence permits statistics, authorisations to reside for research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects and au pairing.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
SR authorisation means a residence permit or long-stay visa entitling its holder to reside for a period exceeding 90 days in one of the EU Member States for one of the following reasons:
Research - this covers residence permits/long-stay visas issued to researchers. Research means creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications[1]. Researcher means a third-country national who holds a doctoral degree or an appropriate higher education qualification which gives that third-country national access to doctoral programmes, who is selected by a research organisation and admitted to the territory of a Member State for carrying out a research activity for which such qualification is normally required[2].
Studies - this covers residence permits/long-stay visas issued to students. Student means a third-country national who has been accepted by a higher education institution and is admitted to the territory of a Member State to pursue as a main activity a full-time course of study leading to a higher education qualification recognised by that Member State, including diplomas, certificates or doctoral degrees in a higher education institution, which may cover a preparatory course prior to such education, in accordance with national law, or compulsory training[3].
Training - this covers residence permits/long-stay visas issued to trainees. Trainee means a third-country national who holds a degree of higher education or is pursuing a course of study in a third-country that leads to a higher education degree and who is admitted to the territory of a Member State for a training programme for the purpose of gaining knowledge, practice and experience in a professional environment.
Voluntary service this covers residence permits/long-stay visas issued to volunteers. Volunteer means a third-country national who is admitted to the territory of a Member State to participate in a voluntary service scheme[4].There are two categories of volunteers mentioned by Directive (EU) 2016/801: 1. Volunteers in the European Voluntary Service (EVS); 2. Voluntary service other than the EVS – each Member States can choose whether or not to apply the Directive to this category[5].
Pupil exchange scheme or educational project - this covers residence permits/long-stay visas issued to school pupils. Member States can choose to apply the Directive to this category at national level. School pupil means a third-country national who is admitted to the territory of a Member State to follow a recognised, state or regional programme of secondary education equivalent to level 2 or 3 of the International Standard Classification of Education, in the context of a pupil exchange scheme or educational project operated by an education establishment in accordance with national law or administrative practice[6].
Au-pairing - this covers residence permits/long-stay visas issued to au pairs. Member States can choose to apply the Directive to this category at national level. Au pair means a third-country national who is admitted to the territory of a Member State to be temporarily received by a family in order to improve his or her linguistic skills and knowledge of the Member State concerned in exchange for light housework and taking care of children[7].
Job-searching or entrepreneurship for researchers and students (Article 25): after the completion of research or studies, researchers and students have the possibility to stay on the territory of the Member State, for a period of at least nine months in order to seek employment or set up a business.
Family reasons - this covers SR authorisations for family reasons issued to the third-country nationals who are family members of researchers. The following two categories of family members will be included in this category: Family members of a researcher- this covers SR authorisations for family reasons issued to the third-country nationals who are family members of researchers (sponsor's spouse and children as defined in Article 4(1) of Directive 2003/86/EC); Family members of a job-searcher or an entrepreneur- this covers SR authorisations for family reasons issued to the third-country nationals who are family members of former researchers staying for the purpose of job-searching or entrepreneurship under SR directive (sponsor's spouse and children as defined in Article 4(1) of Directive 2003/86/EC).
Authorisations are permissions to stay in the Member State territory issued to the SR authorisation holders and to their family members. There are two types of authorisations, depending on the issuing Member State and the situation with regards to mobility:
SR authorisations issued by the first Member State refer to a residence permit or, if provided for in national law, a long-stay visa issued for the purposes of this Directive[8].
Authorisations for long-term mobility issued by the second Member State refer to a residence permit or long-stay visa issued by a second Member State to researchers or their family members for stay of more than six months (applicable only for those Member States that choose the application procedure for long-term mobility of researchers, cf. Articles 29 and 30(3) of Directive (EU) 2016/801).
Distinction between countries of destination - type of Member State
First Member State means the Member State which first issues a third-country national an authorisation on the basis of SR Directive.
Second Member State means any Member State other than the first Member State; in which the third-country national intends to exercise or exercises the right of mobility within the meaning of SR Directive.
[5] Member States may also decide to apply the provisions of this Directive to third-country nationals who apply to be admitted for the purpose of a pupil exchange scheme or educational project, voluntary service other than the European Voluntary Service or au pairing. (Article 1 of Directive (EU) 2016/801).
The statistics on SR refers to the number of authorisations and notifications counted under the framework of Directive (EU) 2016/801, including the mobility cases or the cases related to family reasons (e.g., authorisations issued to family members of researchers).
See also point 3.6.
3.6. Statistical population
SR data collection covers third-country nationals who are admitted to the territory of a Member State for the purpose of research, studies, training or voluntary service in the European Voluntary Service. Member States may also decide to apply the provisions of Directive (EU) 2016/801to third-country nationals who apply for admission for the purpose of a pupil exchange scheme or educational project, voluntary service other than the European Voluntary Service or au pairing. This data collection cover also the authorisations to reside under the SR Directive issued to the family members of researchers.
3.7. Reference area
EU Member States, except Denmark.
Denmark is not bound by Directive (EU) 2016/801 and this directive is not applicable for EFTA countries. Ireland is not bound by SR Directive but remains bound by Directive 2005/71/EC. Ireland is therefore expected to provide statistics only in relation to researchers.
3.8. Coverage - Time
First reference year by data collection is 2019.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Units of measure is the absolute number of authorisations to reside for research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects, au pairing or family reasons under the framework of Directive (EU) 2016/801.
Calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Eurostat provide Technical Guidelines to the Member States describing the procedures and the quality requirements for the statistics collected on voluntary basis. See the Annex 1: Residence Permits Technical Guidelines including the guidelines on SR statistics.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Not applicable.
8.1. Release calendar
Depending on the data availability, most of the statistics will be released by end of July of the year following the reference year.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable.
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
The metadata are complete and accessible online on the website of Eurostat.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Eurostat provides Technical Guidelines to the Member States describing the procedures and the quality requirements for the statistics collected. See Annex 1.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
See Annexes.
11.1. Quality assurance
Statistics on SR are based entirely on administrative sources. Member States compile data in compliance with the Council Regulation (EC) 862/2007 that lays down the common framework for the compilation of statistics on migration and international protection.
The technical guidelines follow the rules and quality aspects from both Council Regulation (EC) 862/2007 and Directive (EU) 2016/801. These guidelines set the standard for quality by providing the definitions applied for the collected categories.
At national level, most of the data providers perform various checks before data transmission. At Eurostat level, data processing has an automated validation system embedded and various checks are manually performed in the data workflow before data publication.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Certain differences in definitions and practices of producing statistics might exist between countries due to the national transposition of the SR Directive.
Number of national authorities have introduced improved procedures to ensure that the necessary information is gathered as part of the immigration administrative process and better computing systems to allow this information to be readily accessed to be included in the statistical data.
Non-compliance follow-up measures have been launched by the Commission in response to the most serious cases of missing or incomplete data – where for example, no data have been supplied by a country in response to a data collection. Actions undertaken have demonstrated that a large majority of Member States make a serious effort to be compliant.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The statistics collected under the Directive are widely used in official publications and by a wide range of users.
Within the Commission, the main user of migration and asylum statistics is DG Migration and Home Affairs. However, these statistics are also frequently used by other Directorates General, in particular, by DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, and by DG Justice and Consumers. These statistics are used in several publications of the Commission, as well as in the preparation of regular reports, policy proposals and analysis.
From the EU policy perspective, the admission of students, researchers, and other categories promotes the EU as a world center of excellence, fosters people-to-people contacts and mobility, develops solidarity, contributes to a stronger social cohesion, and contributes to mutual enrichment and familiarity with other cultures for the migrants, their country of origin, and the EU countries, while strengthening cultural links and enhancing cultural diversity.
In the area of SR statistics, the number of users is contingent upon the statistical product, the topic it covers, and the specific statistical product in question. For example, there were around 550 unique page views in 2024 of the table “Authorisations for study and research by reason, type of decision, citizenship and length of validity”.
The other two tables from SR statistics recorded less than 100 unique page views: around 90 for table “Authorisations for long-term mobility of researchers by reason, type of decision, citizenship and length of validity” and 70 for “Notifications for research and study by reason, decision, citizenship and length of validity”.
The statical explained article “Residence permits - statistics on authorisations to reside and work recorded” in which the SR statistics are present, recorded a number of 4 433 unique page views.
12.3. Completeness
The implementation of the SR Directive has resulted in an improvement in the completeness and degree of harmonisation of these statistics.
However, despite these improvements, further work is still needed for some of the statistics collected and in some of the Member States at higher granularity. Problems of missing and incomplete data still might occur for specific detailed categories.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Under the framework of the Directive (EU) 2016/801 and Council Regulation (CE) No 862 of 11 July 2007, the SR statistics are based mainly on administrative registers, and therefore it is expected that there is a high accuracy of the overall resulting statistics. However, the final accuracy of the data depends on the precision of the underlying administrative systems.
The national metadata file gives more details on accuracy at the national level. For example, the absence of certain detailed categories in the statistical system could lead to specific accuracy problems.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
Data should be supplied to Eurostat no later than 6 months after the end of the reference period.
14.2. Punctuality
Residence permit data are generally published within 7 months after the reference year.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Some administrative differences still exist between the Member States due to the national specific EU Directive transposition and particular institutional configuration.
For the analytical purposes and comparisons between the countries please see the national metadata files.
15.2. Comparability - over time
SR statistics should be compiled based on the same reference methodology, and the outputs should be comparable between years. Due to ongoing methodological improvements or revisions to administrative systems that may occur at different reference periods, Member States may apply slightly different processing rules between the years for certain permit categories. For the analytical purposes and comparisons between the years, please see the national metadata files.
When a change in the standards for defining and observing a variable over time causes a break in the time series, Eurostat uses the flag "b" to signal this change between years.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Internal coherence (e.g. between years, a coherent classification of issued permits) is ensured through the application of the reference methodological guidelines and through the various validations performed on the data before publication. An important aspect is that this data collection is based on administrative sources following almost the same procedures.
The types of statistics required under the Directive (EU) 2016/801 are also needed for national purposes, such as for the migration policy management including labour migration. In almost all cases, the data used to produce the statistics are based on existing administrative and statistical systems. The burden related to the SR statistics on the national authorities is therefore related to the need to prepare particular disaggregations or tables that might not otherwise have been produced and to the need to apply the harmonized statistical definitions and concepts. For some national authorities, this resulted in one-off costs associated with the necessary adaptations to methods, procedures, and systems.
The extent of the additional burden may vary between the Member States according to the degree of similarity between the existing national systems for migration statistics and the requirements of the Directive (EU) 2016/801. However, in most Member States and for most of the statistics covered by the legal requirements, the additional costs and burden are believed to be limited and to be proportionate to the benefits obtained at both the EU and national level of having more complete and better-harmonized migration statistics.
17.1. Data revision - policy
The general Eurostat revision policy applies to this domain. According to the policy for routine revisions, national data continue to be revised when additional information from national authorities becomes available. If errors are detected in either national data or in European aggregates, they are corrected immediately. Major revisions and changes in methodology which may lead to breaks in time series shall be announced in advance by the national data providers and approved by Eurostat.
17.2. Data revision - practice
The revision practice aligns effectively with the one outlined in sub-concept 17.1 (data revision - policy). Reported errors are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated. Whenever new country data are validated, the already disseminated data are updated. Revisions of aggregates are made directly after revisions of country data transmitted to Eurostat. Time series breaks caused by major revisions are flagged. Major revisions are documented and communicated to users in a methodological note. Data may be published despite incomplete datasets, with some data missing or flagged as provisional or, in very exceptional cases, of low reliability for specific statistics. Such data are replaced with the final versions upon transmission and validation. The impact of major revisions is analysed in working documents produced for experts' meetings held with representatives of the national data providers.
18.1. Source data
Most of the statistics are based on administrative data sources only. Data are compiled from the administrative records of the national authorities, mainly the Ministries of Interior or immigration agencies.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual.
18.3. Data collection
SR statistics are annually collected from administrative sources, having as a statistical unit the number of persons receiving the authorisation to reside under the framework of Directive (EU) 2016/801.
The national authorities from the countries implementing this directive have the obligation to collect the required variable at the national level and to send the resulting statistics to Eurostat in a specific data format. The collected files should pass the automated validation procedure in the first stage of quality assessment at Eurostat level.
Please see the technical guidelines in Annex 1 further information on the data collection.
18.4. Data validation
Before publishing the data, consistent validation checks are performed. SR data are validated through all processing steps, combining manual/visual validation with some tools integrated within the templates and the production environment.
The Member States shall apply the validation checks of the permit statistics before providing data to Eurostat. The statistical process is different in each country. Therefore, each country shall develop its own data validation system, depending on the national infrastructure.
With the aim of assuring the data quality and for harmonising the validation systems between Member States, Eurostat is involved in the following four main activities:
Setting the methodological framework for producing harmonised statistics between the Member States. The methodological requirements are specified in the Technical Guidelines for data collection.
Promote the exchange of good practices between MSs related to the data processing and validation procedures. In this respect, different quality aspects of the statistics produced by Eurostat have been presented to the data providers.
Establishing a set of validation rules that should be applied to all the files that are provided to Eurostat.
Provide some IT tools for data validation (e.g. automated data validation for minimal quality requirements). that allow data providers to check the files before data transmission.
18.5. Data compilation
List of EU aggregates used:
EU28 aggregate refers to European Union before the Brexit. This aggregate covers the following countries: BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, HR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE, UK.
EU27_2019 aggregate refers to European Union (27 countries without the United Kingdom). This aggregate covers the following countries: BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, HR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE.
EU aggregates are calculated only if all the Member States from the aggregate are available.
Within the broader statistical domain of residence permits statistics, the statistics on student and researchers, and trainees, volunteers, pupils and au pairs (SR statistics) refer to non-EU citizens receiving an authorisation to reside under the framework of Directive (EU) 2016/801 on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects and au pairing (Hereinafter “SR Directive”).
The authorisation to reside for study, research or other categories refers to the residence permit or long-stay visa entitling its holder to reside for a period exceeding 90 days in one of the EU Member States for one of the following reasons: research, studies, training or voluntary service in the European Voluntary Service. Member States may also decide to apply the provisions of Directive (EU) 2016/801 to third-country nationals who apply for admission for the purpose of a pupil exchange scheme or educational project, voluntary service other than the European Voluntary Service or au pairing. This data collection cover also the authorisations to reside under this directive issued to the family members of researchers.
SR statistics refer to four main topics:
SR authorisations (by a first Member State);
Residence permits for family members of researchers;
Notifications pursuant to Article 28(2), Article 30(2) or Article 31(2) of Directive (EU) 2016/801;
Authorisations for long-term mobility of researchers and their family members (pursuant to Articles 29 and 30(3) of Directive (EU) 2016/801).
Denmark is not bound by Directive (EU) 2016/801 and this directive is not applicable for EFTA countries. Ireland is not bound by SR Directive but remains bound by Directive 2005/71/EC. Ireland is therefore expected to provide statistics only in relation to researchers.
Data source
Data is based on administrative sources, provided mainly by the Ministries of Interior or related immigration agencies. Generally, the dissemination of data occurs in July of the year following the reference year, contingent on the availability and quality of the data.
See the Annex 1 Residence Permits Technical Guidelines including the guidelines on SR statistics.
Starting from 2025, the residence permits and EU directives data collection now includes six metadata files in total. Countries are required to submit six distinct files. For those that have not yet provided the updated six files, the previous metadata format, included in the annex of this metadata file (Annex 2), remains available as a reference.
23 January 2025
SR authorisation means a residence permit or long-stay visa entitling its holder to reside for a period exceeding 90 days in one of the EU Member States for one of the following reasons:
Research - this covers residence permits/long-stay visas issued to researchers. Research means creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications[1]. Researcher means a third-country national who holds a doctoral degree or an appropriate higher education qualification which gives that third-country national access to doctoral programmes, who is selected by a research organisation and admitted to the territory of a Member State for carrying out a research activity for which such qualification is normally required[2].
Studies - this covers residence permits/long-stay visas issued to students. Student means a third-country national who has been accepted by a higher education institution and is admitted to the territory of a Member State to pursue as a main activity a full-time course of study leading to a higher education qualification recognised by that Member State, including diplomas, certificates or doctoral degrees in a higher education institution, which may cover a preparatory course prior to such education, in accordance with national law, or compulsory training[3].
Training - this covers residence permits/long-stay visas issued to trainees. Trainee means a third-country national who holds a degree of higher education or is pursuing a course of study in a third-country that leads to a higher education degree and who is admitted to the territory of a Member State for a training programme for the purpose of gaining knowledge, practice and experience in a professional environment.
Voluntary service this covers residence permits/long-stay visas issued to volunteers. Volunteer means a third-country national who is admitted to the territory of a Member State to participate in a voluntary service scheme[4].There are two categories of volunteers mentioned by Directive (EU) 2016/801: 1. Volunteers in the European Voluntary Service (EVS); 2. Voluntary service other than the EVS – each Member States can choose whether or not to apply the Directive to this category[5].
Pupil exchange scheme or educational project - this covers residence permits/long-stay visas issued to school pupils. Member States can choose to apply the Directive to this category at national level. School pupil means a third-country national who is admitted to the territory of a Member State to follow a recognised, state or regional programme of secondary education equivalent to level 2 or 3 of the International Standard Classification of Education, in the context of a pupil exchange scheme or educational project operated by an education establishment in accordance with national law or administrative practice[6].
Au-pairing - this covers residence permits/long-stay visas issued to au pairs. Member States can choose to apply the Directive to this category at national level. Au pair means a third-country national who is admitted to the territory of a Member State to be temporarily received by a family in order to improve his or her linguistic skills and knowledge of the Member State concerned in exchange for light housework and taking care of children[7].
Job-searching or entrepreneurship for researchers and students (Article 25): after the completion of research or studies, researchers and students have the possibility to stay on the territory of the Member State, for a period of at least nine months in order to seek employment or set up a business.
Family reasons - this covers SR authorisations for family reasons issued to the third-country nationals who are family members of researchers. The following two categories of family members will be included in this category: Family members of a researcher- this covers SR authorisations for family reasons issued to the third-country nationals who are family members of researchers (sponsor's spouse and children as defined in Article 4(1) of Directive 2003/86/EC); Family members of a job-searcher or an entrepreneur- this covers SR authorisations for family reasons issued to the third-country nationals who are family members of former researchers staying for the purpose of job-searching or entrepreneurship under SR directive (sponsor's spouse and children as defined in Article 4(1) of Directive 2003/86/EC).
Authorisations are permissions to stay in the Member State territory issued to the SR authorisation holders and to their family members. There are two types of authorisations, depending on the issuing Member State and the situation with regards to mobility:
SR authorisations issued by the first Member State refer to a residence permit or, if provided for in national law, a long-stay visa issued for the purposes of this Directive[8].
Authorisations for long-term mobility issued by the second Member State refer to a residence permit or long-stay visa issued by a second Member State to researchers or their family members for stay of more than six months (applicable only for those Member States that choose the application procedure for long-term mobility of researchers, cf. Articles 29 and 30(3) of Directive (EU) 2016/801).
Distinction between countries of destination - type of Member State
First Member State means the Member State which first issues a third-country national an authorisation on the basis of SR Directive.
Second Member State means any Member State other than the first Member State; in which the third-country national intends to exercise or exercises the right of mobility within the meaning of SR Directive.
[5] Member States may also decide to apply the provisions of this Directive to third-country nationals who apply to be admitted for the purpose of a pupil exchange scheme or educational project, voluntary service other than the European Voluntary Service or au pairing. (Article 1 of Directive (EU) 2016/801).
The statistics on SR refers to the number of authorisations and notifications counted under the framework of Directive (EU) 2016/801, including the mobility cases or the cases related to family reasons (e.g., authorisations issued to family members of researchers).
See also point 3.6.
SR data collection covers third-country nationals who are admitted to the territory of a Member State for the purpose of research, studies, training or voluntary service in the European Voluntary Service. Member States may also decide to apply the provisions of Directive (EU) 2016/801to third-country nationals who apply for admission for the purpose of a pupil exchange scheme or educational project, voluntary service other than the European Voluntary Service or au pairing. This data collection cover also the authorisations to reside under the SR Directive issued to the family members of researchers.
EU Member States, except Denmark.
Denmark is not bound by Directive (EU) 2016/801 and this directive is not applicable for EFTA countries. Ireland is not bound by SR Directive but remains bound by Directive 2005/71/EC. Ireland is therefore expected to provide statistics only in relation to researchers.
Calendar year.
Under the framework of the Directive (EU) 2016/801 and Council Regulation (CE) No 862 of 11 July 2007, the SR statistics are based mainly on administrative registers, and therefore it is expected that there is a high accuracy of the overall resulting statistics. However, the final accuracy of the data depends on the precision of the underlying administrative systems.
The national metadata file gives more details on accuracy at the national level. For example, the absence of certain detailed categories in the statistical system could lead to specific accuracy problems.
Units of measure is the absolute number of authorisations to reside for research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects, au pairing or family reasons under the framework of Directive (EU) 2016/801.
List of EU aggregates used:
EU28 aggregate refers to European Union before the Brexit. This aggregate covers the following countries: BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, HR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE, UK.
EU27_2019 aggregate refers to European Union (27 countries without the United Kingdom). This aggregate covers the following countries: BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, HR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE.
EU aggregates are calculated only if all the Member States from the aggregate are available.
Most of the statistics are based on administrative data sources only. Data are compiled from the administrative records of the national authorities, mainly the Ministries of Interior or immigration agencies.
Annual.
Data should be supplied to Eurostat no later than 6 months after the end of the reference period.
Some administrative differences still exist between the Member States due to the national specific EU Directive transposition and particular institutional configuration.
For the analytical purposes and comparisons between the countries please see the national metadata files.
SR statistics should be compiled based on the same reference methodology, and the outputs should be comparable between years. Due to ongoing methodological improvements or revisions to administrative systems that may occur at different reference periods, Member States may apply slightly different processing rules between the years for certain permit categories. For the analytical purposes and comparisons between the years, please see the national metadata files.
When a change in the standards for defining and observing a variable over time causes a break in the time series, Eurostat uses the flag "b" to signal this change between years.
