IV. PROCEDURE IV.1 Clear and realistic deadlines A) Summary of international standards Statelessness determination should be conducted as expeditiously as possible, subject to reasonable time being available to gather evidence. In general, it is undesirable for a first-instance decision to be issued more than 6 months from the submission of an application as this prolongs the period spent by an applicant in an insecure position. However, in exceptional circumstances it may be appropriate to allow the proceedings to last up to 12 months to provide time for enquiries regarding the applicant’s nationality status to be pursued with another state, where it is likely that a substantive response will be forthcoming in that period.59 B) Existing good practices The following countries have stipulated an explicit and reasonable deadline for first-instance decision-making in statelessness determination (in order of proximity with the above benchmarks set by UNHCR guidance): Moldova Georgia Latvia Hungary Deadline 6 months 6 months 3 months 2 months Which can be prolonged, if necessary, by… 6 months 3 months 1 month No possibility of further prolongation60 C) Factors to consider when designing a national system  What are the deadlines for first-instance decision-making in procedures that can be used as reference (such as asylum procedures, applications for a humanitarian residence permit, naturalisation claims, etc.)?  Are there any specific circumstances (for example the size of the envisaged population, capacity shortage, special difficulties in assessing potential nationality ties, etc.) which would make it difficult to keep the procedural deadlines (6+6 months) recommended by UNHCR?  If yes, what preliminary measures are needed in order to prevent undue delays (for example training programmes, additional capacity, cooperation initiatives with other states or UNHCR, etc.)? 60 59 See UNHCR Statelessness Guidelines 2, Para 22-23 60 However, the general regulation on public administration procedures enables the determining authority to suspend the statelessness determination procedure, while waiting for information crucial for decision-making from another authority (in this case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for example). This means that in practice statelessness determination procedures can take even much longer, without necessarily breaching the relevant deadline under national regulation. 20