Condition of habitual residence (1961 Convention, Article 1(2)(b)) 28. Among the permissible conditions listed exhaustively in Article 1(2)(b) of the 1961 Convention, States may stipulate that an otherwise stateless person born in its territory fulfil a period of “habitual residence” on the territory of the country of birth in order to acquire that country’s nationality. This period is not to exceed five years immediately preceding an application nor ten years in all. “Habitual residence” should be understood as stable, factual residence. The 1961 Convention does not allow Contracting States to make an application for the acquisition of nationality of otherwise stateless individuals conditional on lawful residence. 29. In cases where it is difficult to determine whether a person is habitually resident in one or another country, for example due to a nomadic way of life, it should be concluded that such persons habitually reside in both countries. 30. States should establish objective criteria for individuals to prove habitual residence. Lists of types of permissible evidence, however, should never be exhaustive. Criminal history (1961 Convention, Article 1(2)(c)) 31. The permissible condition that an otherwise stateless individual has been neither convicted of an offence against national security nor sentenced to a term of imprisonment for five years or more on a criminal charge as set forth in Article 1(2)(c) refers to the criminal history of an otherwise stateless person and not to acts of his or her parents. 32. Criminal consequences due to irregular presence on the territory of a State are never to be used to disqualify an otherwise stateless individual from acquiring nationality under Article 1(2)(c). 33. Whether a crime can be qualified as an “offence needs to be judged against international standards characterization by the concerned State. Similarly, acts and sentencing standards must be consistent rights law and standards. against national security” and not simply by such a criminalization of specific with international human Has “always been stateless” (1961 Convention, Article 1(2)(d)) 34. Where a Contracting State requires that an individual has “always been stateless” to acquire nationality pursuant to an application under Article 1(2)(d), there is a presumption that the applicant has always been stateless and the burden of proof rests with the State to prove the contrary. An applicant’s possession of evidently false or fraudulently obtained documents of another State does not negate the presumption that an individual has always been stateless. 9