An increase in labour mobility in the EU, coming both from other Member states and from countries outside its territory, creates a need for detailed and up-to-date statistical information to feed current political discussions on labour market policies in general and on labour mobility in particular. The two main data sources for obtaining information on the topic are the EU Labour Force Survey and the Population and Housing Census, supplemented by yearly administrative population data. The objective of this paper is to compare the data obtained from the EU-LFS and the EU Census regarding characteristics of the foreign-born population residing in the EU. Combining these two data sources can bring new opportunities for analysing this group. The purpose is therefore to provide a clear overview of the differences and similarities when comparing the results coming from the two data sources for the same reference year, 2011. Potential explanations for the differences identified are also put forward. The main question is whether or not it would be possible to update the more structural information in the EU Census with the more timely data available in the EU-LFS when publishing statistics about the foreign born population. The conclusion, after analysing the data, is that the current situation is not favourable to combining the two data sources for getting more frequently estimates for foreign-born population. Despite the high power of EU-LFS to capture the foreign-born population important weakness arise when this population is broken down by some of the dimensions analysed in this paper, and in particular those that are of high relevance for looking at their labour market situation. The recommendation is to look for solutions to substantially increase the power of capturing foreign-born population in a sample so that it can be analysed by its multiple facets, and to collaboratively look for best practices for better collecting this population that is of very high relevance in a policy perspective.