THE PROBLEM OF STATELESSNESS IN UKRAINE AND THE WAYS OF ADDRESSING IT Ruslan has never applied for any documents because he thought that this requires money that he did not have. Later on, he formed his own family but the couple’s relationship remains officially not registered because both Ruslan and his common law wife have no documents. Ruslan’s child, just like once he himself, was born outside a maternity hospital, and the son’s birth was also not registered. After their son was born, the family’s need for money has almost doubled – the child needed proper feeding, clothes, and medicines. Ruslan found two more jobs but they are temporary. The impossibility of official employment puts him at risk of being deceived and getting no money for the work done at all, which has already happened twice. Lawyers of the Desyate Kvitnya organization learned about Ruslan’s problems as a result of a survey held among the settlement’s residents. Ruslan responded to the offer of help immediately, because he could not bear the powerless situation, especially as now he was afraid for his child as well. He did not want his son to suffer from all the hardship he has to undergo himself. At present, Ruslan receives legal aid from the organization’s lawyers. Within the framework of this study, a survey was held among non-governmental organizations, such as Narodna Dovira Cherkashchyny, the Romani Cherhen Zakarpatya oblast Roma youth association, Desyate Kvitnya, and Chirikli Roma women’s foundation, which provide legal and social assistance to Roma in various regions of Ukraine. The survey addressed such questions as trends in approaches of Roma community members to legal aid, registration of newborns by their parents, problems faced by Roma, for example in obtaining a residence permit, etc. According to the above-mentioned organizations, between 45 and 90% of their clients apply to competent bodies for receiving Ukrainian citizen passports upon reaching of 16 years of age. Lawyers note that boys try to obtain passports only in case they want to get a driving license, at the age of 18. Girls receive passports in case they are going to give birth to a baby and get aid from the government. Unmarried girls do not receive passports until they are offered marriage. Almost all the organizations informed that in most cases Roma register their newborns in order to receive social benefits. Registration of older children is more difficult because in practice it may only be done via lawsuits. Besides, when trying to have their elder children registered, the clients encounter the problem of mothers having no document and the difficulty of obtaining a birth certificate for a baby who is already 3-6 months of age or more. The organizations are also aware of some cases of acquisition of Ukrainian citizenship pursuant to Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine on Citizenship of Ukraine, for example, cases of acquisition of citizenship on the basis of the USSR passport by citizens of the Republic of Belarus or the Russian Federation. Besides, one organization found 10 persons 27