III. ACCESS III.1 Legal conditions of submitting a claim A) Summary of international standards Everyone in a state’s territory must have access to statelessness determination procedures. There is no basis in the 1954 Convention for requiring that applicants for statelessness determination be lawfully within a state. Such a requirement is particularly inequitable given that lack of nationality denies many stateless persons the very documentation that is necessary to enter or reside in any state lawfully. In addition, there is also no basis in the 1954 Convention to set timelimits for individuals to claim stateless status and such deadlines may arbitrarily exclude individuals from protection.41 B) Existing good practices France, Georgia, Italy (judicial procedure), Latvia, Mexico, Moldova, the Philippines, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom do not require applicants for stateless status to be lawfully present in the country’s territory. Georgia – as a particularly positive example – explicitly emphasises that Any person staying in Georgia has a right to undergo status determination procedure despite his/her legality of stay on the territory of Georgia.42 Mexican law exempts those who wish to apply for stateless status from the obligation to obtain a visa upon entry in the country.43 France, Georgia, Hungary, Italy (both procedures), Latvia, Mexico, Moldova, the Philippines, Slovakia, Turkey and the United Kingdom do not set any time-limit within which applications for stateless status shall be made. In the overwhelming majority of states where statelessness is defined by law as a protection ground any nonnational can submit an application for protection at any time (as in the case of asylum procedures). C) Factors to consider when designing a national system  Is statelessness determination integrated into any other procedural framework (application for a specific residence permit, etc.), where a requirement of lawful stay or time-limits apply as a general condition for accepting claims?  If yes, specific rules should ensure that applicants for protection on grounds of statelessness are explicitly exempted from the scope of this provision. 41 For detailed guidance see UNHCR Statelessness Guidelines 2, Para 17-18 42 Georgian President’s Decree: Approving the Rules for Stateless Status Determination, No. 515, 27 June 2012, Section 2 (2) – see also examples in Section III.4 43 Act on Migration, 25 May 2011, Section 37 (III) (e) 14