SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: THE PACIFIC discriminatory provisions in 2014, 2017, and 2018 respectively.1268 The citizenship laws of four States (Australia, Kiribati, New Zealand and Samoa) also operate broadly through jus sanguinis structures with some variance between citizens born in and outside of the territories.1269 Vanuatu, Nauru, and Solomon Islands amended their citizenship laws to remove gender discriminatory provisions in 2014, 2017, and 2018 respectively. The citizenship laws of four States (Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu) operate through a combined jus soli and jus sanguinis structure.1270 All children born in Fiji are considered citizens at birth unless one parent is a foreign diplomat and neither parent is a citizen of the relevant State.1271 Children born in the Marshall Islands are automatically considered citizens if they are not entitled to any other citizenship.1272 Children born to citizen parents within or outside of Fiji, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu can also access citizenship through jus sanguinis provisions.1273 The nationality laws of six States (Micronesia, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu) have no explicit protection for foundlings born on their territory. The citizenship laws of Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand provide citizenship to foundlings born on their territory.1274 Foundling children in both Australia and New Zealand are also automatically considered citizens.1275 Fiji also follows the presumption that a foundling shall be considered to have been born within the country and in turn able to access citizenship through the State’s jus soli provisions.1276 While Tuvalu includes a similar provisions providing citizenship access to foundlings through jus soli provisions1277, the child must have a citizen parent in order to gain citizenship by birth.1278 Three States (Kiribati, Marshall Islands and Papua New Guinea) also provide limited protections for foundlings. The limited jus soli provisions in the 114 SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: THE PACIFIC The nationality laws of six States (Micronesia, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu) have no explicit protection for foundlings born on their territory. laws of Kiribati and the Marshall Islands, do not explicitly provide that abandoned children are considered to be born in Kiribati or the Marshall Islands, leaving it unclear whether foundling children are able to access citizenship.1279 The Constitution of Papua New Guinea provides foundlings automatic access to citizenship by descent by deeming them to be the child of a Papua New Guinean citizen.1280 Five States (Australia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, and New Zealand) provide citizenship to children born on their territories who would otherwise be stateless.1281 There is limited protection provided under the laws of Samoa (at the minister’s discretion) and Papua New Guinea to stateless persons born on the territory.1282 There is no protection under the laws of the remaining six States (Micronesia, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu). Australia is the only country in the Pacific subregion to include a definition of statelessness in its citizenship legislation. However, Australia’s definition does not align with the definition included in the 1954 Stateless Convention as children are required to prove that not only are they not a national or citizens of any other country but that they have never been and are not entitled to nationality or citizenship of another country.1283 The 1954 Convention defines a stateless person as someone “who is not considered as a national by any State under operation of its law”, which does not place the burden of proof on the stateless person.1284 Naturalized citizenship Australia is the only country in the Pacific with a simplified process of naturalization available STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) to stateless persons born in the country.1285 The simplified process includes less requirements, making the process more accessible to stateless persons. In order to be eligible for the simplified process in Australia, the only requirement is that the stateless person is not and has never been entitled to citizenship of another country.1286 In six States (Fiji, Kiribati, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Palau, and Tonga), stateless persons are either unlikely to be eligible (in the case of New Zealand and Kiribati) or are entirely ineligible for the standard naturalization procedure.1287 The Solomons Islands’ citizenship application requires a birth certificate, passport, or driver’s license and proof of sustainable income, property, investments or economic benefit to Solomon Islands, which may bar stateless persons from being able to apply.1288 In Palau, only persons of Palauan ancestry are eligible for naturalization.1289 Further, stateless persons are not included on the list of eligible persons in Fiji.1290 In New Zealand, the requirement of being able to indefinitely reside in the country in order to apply for naturalization likely barres stateless persons from accessing naturalization.1291 Due to the requirement of the applicant to submit their passport in the application process, stateless persons are also ineligible for naturalization in Tonga.1292 In order to get a permanent residence visa in Kiribati (which is required for naturalization), one must be living in Kiribati for a period of seven years and cannot be “liable for deportation”, which may be the case for stateless persons in the country.1293 Australia is the only country in the Pacific with a simplified process of naturalization available to stateless persons born in the country. Stateless persons may be eligible for the standard naturalization process in Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. While the required length of residence for naturalization varies across States of the Pacific, Nauru notably has the longest required residence period, requiring applicants to be continuously resident in the country for 20 years prior to application.1294 Dual citizenship Dual citizenship is permitted in seven States of the Pacific, including Australia, Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.1295 Three States, Kiribati, Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, prohibit dual citizenship.1296 In Micronesia and Papua New Guinea, dual citizenship is generally not permitted, but may be accessed through application in Papua New Guinea.1297 The provision for dual citizenship in Micronesia is only available to individuals having dual citizenship of the United States.1298 There are no provisions stipulating dual citizenship in Samoa or Tonga. The requirement to renounce prior citizenship in order to apply for citizenship through naturalization may leave applicants in Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands and Micronesia stateless.1299 In Micronesia and Marshall Islands, applicants must endure an indefinite period of statelessness throughout the application process as they must renounce prior citizenship before making the application.1300 Applicants in Kiribati must renounce their prior citizenship before accruing the ten years of permanent residence required for naturalization, forcing them to remain stateless for ten years before applying.1301 Similarly, in order for foreign women spouses of a Solomon Islands citizen to gain citizenship, they must renounce any prior citizenship and be a resident for two years before they can apply for naturalization with the consent of their husband.1302 Tuvalu also requires applicants to renounce prior citizenship, however provisions exist to prevent statelessness in this case.1303 Tuvalu’s legislation includes a provision stating that if renouncing citizenship is “impracticable” or prohibited by the other State of citizenship, the applicant can make a declaration of intent to renounce the other State’s citizenship upon gaining Tuvalu citizenship.1304 REPORT 2024 115