Residence permit means any authorisation valid for at least 3 months issued by the authorities of a Member State allowing a third country national to stay legally on its territory. First permit means the residence permit issued to a person for the first time. A residence permit is considered as a first permit also if the time gap between expiry of the old permit and the start of validity of the new permit issued for the same reason is at least 6 months, irrespective of the year of issuance of the permit.