Category 3: Former USSR citizens who resided permanently in the Kyrgyz Republic on 18 February 1994, who do not have any other citizenship and who did not yet apply for Kyrgyz passports (1,870 individuals). This category comprises persons, who were already recognized as citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic under the old citizenship law, but have not yet exchanged their old USSR passports or birth certificates for a Kyrgyz passport. Even though, the current law also recognizes them as citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic, they can no longer obtain Kyrgyz passports under simplified procedures. Instead their applications are also considered by Conflict Commissions. Our survey revealed that most of those who have not yet exchanged their passports failed to do so because they did not consider it necessary. Elderly residents who deem pension certificates sufficient for their purposes make up the majority in this category. However, some inhabitants of remote areas (e.g. Bazarkorgon district in Jalalabad province) claimed that they had been asked to pay more than the official fee to exchange their documents. Residents with a stable source of income usually comply with these demands, but socially vulnerable groups cannot afford to do so. We notified regional passport and visa authorities about the problem. It should be noted that this category was added to the survey only one month after interviews had commenced. Moreover, the survey focused on border districts with a high level of transborder movements, while the majority of persons in this category probably reside in areas further away from borders. The surveyed number of 1,870 persons likely underrepresents the real number of such persons in the South of Kyrgyzstan. Representatives of the Luli community, which comprised 2,584 persons as of August 2004, mainly live in Nariman village, in Karasu district of Osh Province. Most Luli do not hold official documents and would therefore face problems if applying for passports or requesting determination of their citizenship. Bearing in mind however that the researchers were able to interview only 130 representatives of this community we recommend that a separate study be conducted which - respecting the historical, cultural and social specificities of this community - should derive its findings and recommendations jointly with the community. Category 4: Children born to parents of whom one or both are stateless (6,087 individuals). According to the citizenship law, such children should be citizens if they were born in the Kyrgyz Republic. Trying to obtain their passports at the age of 16, however, they may face a number of problems connected to the status of one or both of the parents. According to instruction # 146 On the procedure for registration and issuance of passports of the Kyrgyz Republic issued by the MIA on 13 March 2006, applicants need to provide parents’ passports for the passport departments to determine their citizenship. Current procedures thus prevent children of stateless persons from obtaining Kyrgyz passports. 16 The Situation of Stateless Persons in the Kyrgyz Republic: Findings of Surveys Commissioned by the UNHCR