The Permanent Observatory on Immigration (OPI) has published the statistics entitled "Flow of residence permits granted to foreign nationals in 2025". The number of permits granted stands at 1,577,842, representing an increase of 7.8% (114,238 documents) compared with the previous year.

This statistic, which forms part of the National Statistical Plan, records the total number of residence permits issued during the year; this includes initial awards, renewals, amendments, extensions and reinstatements. It is important to note that the total number of documents is not equivalent to the total number of people who have been granted a residence permit, as the same person may, for example, have been granted an initial permit and subsequently a renewal, meaning that one person may have been granted two documents in the course of the same year.

Increase among nationals from Venezuela, Ukraine and the United Kingdom

The OPI notes that, in 2025, the number of residence permits rose by 7.8% compared with 2024, representing an increase of 114,238 permits granted. The Observatory highlights the increase in the number of permits granted to UK nationals as a key finding. The figure for this group rose from 26,325 to 57,396 due to the transition from temporary to permanent status for the Foreigners' Identity Cards (TIE) held by UK nationals, as more than five years have now passed since this type of documentation was introduced.

Also noteworthy, with a 19.5% increase, are the residence permits granted to Venezuelan nationals and those granted to Ukrainian nationals under temporary protection in 2025.

Main nationalities for which residence permits are issued

Citizens of three countries - Ukraine (244,579 documents), Venezuela (224,341) and Morocco (187,790) - accounted for 42% of the residence permits issued in 2025.

As regards the autonomous communities in which applications were made for residence permits issued during 2025, Catalonia and the Valencian Community stand out, with 311,038 and 282,897 permits granted respectively. Next in terms of numbers are the Community of Madrid with 275,607 and Andalusia with 232,201. These four regional governments accounted for 70% of the residence permits issued in 2025.

82% of the residence permits issued are under the immigration regime, and 92% of these are for temporary residence

Of the 1,577,842 residence permits issued to foreign nationals in 2025, the largest number were residence permits issued under the immigration regime (1,292,400), accounting for 82% of all permits issued, with a year-on-year change of 10.3%.

Added to this are the 244,186 registration certificates or family member cards for EU/EFTA nationals under the free movement regime, which account for 15% of the total, and the 41,256 Foreign National Identity Cards (TIE) issued under the Withdrawal Agreement (3% of the total).

If we focus on the largest group - residence permits issued under immigration regulations - the Permanent Observatory on Immigration reports that 92% of these documents (1,192,088) are for temporary residence, 6% (78,922) for long-term residence and 2% (21,390) for residence granted on grounds of international protection or statelessness.

Among temporary residence permits, the most significant category is that of residence permits granted on the basis of exceptional circumstances, excluding those based on ties to the country, which totalled 479,527 cases, representing 40% of the total.

The second most common reason for temporary residence permits is authorisations granted on the grounds of exceptional circumstances relating to established ties, totalling 221,802 cases, which represents 19% of all temporary residence permits.

Finally, if we look at the regional breakdown of immigration permits, Catalonia, the Community of Madrid, the Valencian Community and Andalusia accounted for 69% of all permits granted in 2025.

Flow of study visas granted in 2025

This month, the Permanent Immigration Observatory (OPI) has also updated its statistics analysing data on student residence permits for foreigners.

Over the course of 2025, 108,253 study permits were granted to students and their family members.

The average age of the people granted a residence permit for study purposes in 2025 is 27, and 54% (57,977) of the permits were issued to women.

Furthermore, the most common nationalities among those granted this type of permit in 2025 were Colombian (14,784, 14% of the total), Peruvian (10,270, 9%), Moroccan (8,885, 8%), American (7,986, 7%) and Chinese (7,771, 7%).

Non official translation