Migrants from outside the European Union (EU) were handed residence permits to live in Britain at the rate of one every 36 seconds last year, new data has revealed. During 2016, the UK granted 865,894 non-EU migrants the right to stay in the country, marking a 52 per cent rise from the previous year, according to figures published by Eurostat. The number makes up a quarter of all residence permits that were issued across Europe, according to the data, which shows Britain handed out more than any other nation. Of migrants who were given permits to live in the UK, 21 per cent of those recorded were U.S. citizens while 14 per cent came from India and 12 per cent from China. Most EU nations have a system in which residence permits allow migrants from outside Europe to stay in the country legally. Because the UK lacks an exact parallel to this, Eurostat counts work, study and family visas — excluding visas given to tourists — as the nearest comparison. Britain's Health Service 'On Its Knees' Thanks to Mass Migration, Says Cancer Specialist https://t.co/3uxYkFqub7 pic.twitter.com/QaxT8uuhyt — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 9, 2016 Behind Britain in the charts for residence permits granted