Addressing Statelessness through the Hungarian Citizenship Act law in force expands the categories of those eligible for naturalisation. 36 The Hungarian Citizenship Act establishes a total of five categories, which are related to the time elapsed before the initiation of the naturalisation procedure upon application. 37 Accordingly, the Hungarian Citizenship Act provides an opportunity for naturalisation after ten, eight, five or three years, 38 subject to the joint compliance of certain conditions. 39 There is also an opportunity for naturalisation where it is not necessary to meet the criteria related to one of the already listed time intervals, where it is sufficient to prove (or at least demonstrate that it is probable) that the individual has knowledge of the Hungarian language, or has Hungarian ancestors. In connection with the steps taken by Hungary to reduce and possibly eliminate statelessness, art 4(2)(e) of the Hungarian Citizenship Act provides facilitated naturalisation for stateless persons if they: have lived in Hungary continuously for at least three years before submitting their application for naturalisation,40 have a clean criminal record according to Hungarian law, have no pending criminal proceedings against them before a Hungarian court when the application is being evaluated, their livelihood and housing are guaranteed in Hungary, their naturalisation does not harm Hungary’s public order and national security and they have certified that they have successfully passed the citizenship exam in Hungarian language on basic constitutional principles. 36 37 38 39 40 The history of Hungarian citizenship legislation consists of four citizenship acts which entered into force in the years of 1879, 1948, 1957 and 1993. Article 4 of the Hungarian Citizenship Act governs the conditions of naturalisation. For an application for naturalisation, it is necessary to differentiate between the different opportunities for naturalisation according to the length of residence required by the Hungarian Citizenship Act. A person who has continuously resided in Hungary for eight years prior to submitting the application may initiate the naturalisation procedure. A non-Hungarian citizen who has been married for at least ten years to a person who is a Hungarian citizen at the time of submitting the citizenship application can also apply for facilitated naturalisation. A non-Hungarian citizen who has been married for five years to a person who is a Hungarian citizen at the time of submitting the citizenship application and has a child together with that Hungarian partner can also be subject to facilitated naturalisation. The Hungarian Citizenship Act requires a three year residence for those who have lived continuously in Hungary prior to the submission of their application and if they have been married to a Hungarian citizen for at least three years. A three year residence is also required if: their marriage ended with the death of their spouse, their child (a minor) is a Hungarian citizen, their child is adopted by a Hungarian citizen and of legal age, or if the person concerned is recognised as a refugee by Hungarian authorities or the person concerned is stateless. Hungarian Citizenship Act (n 3) art 4(2)(e). The principle of jus nexi based on the Nottebohm judgment is embedded in the aforementioned list of criteria: Nottebohm Case (Liechtenstein v Guatemala) (Judgment) [1955] ICJ Rep 131, [23–4]. According to this principle, mere physical presence in the territory is not sufficient to acquire citizenship, as this also requires the existence of a connection between the given person and the state. However, it is important to draw the attention to the fact that the criteria of living in the territory of Hungary does not only mean to be resided in Hungary, but to have established residence/domicile. Accordingly, it creates an unnecessary burden as establishing residence prolongs the so called ‘waiting time’ to be naturalised since establishing residence may only be applicable after having granted a settlement permit for which at least three years of residing in Hungary and a number of criteria shall be fulfilled. However, in this commentary this question is not being examined in detail. 207