3.4.8.3. Citizenships receiving first instance decisions

For the third successive year, most decisions were issued on applications submitted by Syrians (132,000 decisions) and Afghans (89,000), jointly accounting for one-third of all decisions in the EU+. While decisions for Syrian applicants increased by one-fifth in 2023, decisions for Afghans remained stable. 

In addition, notable absolute increases in decisions issued were also seen for nationals of: Türkiye (38,000 first instance decisions), Venezuela (45,000), Morocco (16,000), Georgia (23,000), Russia (10,000), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (11,000), Eritrea (12,000) and Ukraine (10,000).xxix  

Among the citizenships with at least 10,000 decisions issued at first instance in 2023, just five received significantly fewer decisions than a year earlier: Iraqis (21,000), Colombians (21,000), Pakistanis (16,000), Somalis (14,000) and Nigerians (13,000).