Because of these difficulties, the naturalisation process is mostly only used by non-ECOWAS citizens, since those whose origins are in another ECOWAS country can rely on the legal or factual tolerance of their presence. However, even in the case of refugees, who may be in most need of naturalisation as the precondition to full local integration (where they cannot return home), naturalisation may be difficult to access. Several Rwandan refugees had made multiple submissions for naturalisation in Niger, for example, but had yet to be approved, as of mid-2014. 3.4. Official and unofficial costs Official fees for obtaining registration of birth (whether within the set times limits or by late registration procedures), identity documentation and certificates of nationality are usually fairly modest, and birth registration fees have in some countries been reduced or eliminated altogether with the support of UNICEF. However, even a fee of a few dollars may put the process out of reach; and almost everywhere additional unofficial charges may be required, if not from the officials themselves then from intermediaries who play an important role in explaining the system and facilitating acquisition of documents by those who do not know what the procedures are. Transport costs are a significant additional charge for those who live in remote locations and have to travel to a departmental or regional capital for nationality documentation; added to the cost of transport is the cost of lost time from income-generating activities – any centre responsible for issuing nationality or identity documents will see lines of people waiting to see the responsible official, sometimes for many hours at a time.130 Costs for naturalisation may be significantly higher, given the multiple documents, many of them from another country, that need to be assembled for an application. Corruption in nationality administration may, paradoxically, both ease problems of statelessness and create them. The ability to “negotiate” the acquisition of a birth certificate, identity card or other document may enable a person to “pass” as a national for most purposes. However, the sense that the system is not reliable may also mean that the mere possession of documents will not convince others that the person concerned is indeed a “real” national, even if they fulfil all the conditions for nationality from birth or have completed all the procedures for naturalisation. It is widely reported in many West African countries that a person may seek to obtain a new birth certificate in order to change their age, in order to apply for a civil service position, scholarship or other benefit where there is an age restriction. In Guinea — where a recent assessment mission noted that “the administrative system suffers serious dysfunction, including related to lack of financial, human and material resources, difficulties in managing the various institutions and a generalised corruption”131 — senior government officials freely admitted that nationality documents could be obtained with little if any check on entitlement. While Guinea is perhaps the most extreme case, many West African countries struggle with the same issues. 130 In Senegal, for example, a certificate of nationality costs CFA2300; a national identity card is now free, though until recently cost CFA1000. Birth registration is free if done within the correct time limits, if outside those limits via a jugement supplétif the charges have recently been dropped from CFA4,000 to CFA700. To get an extrait de minute du greffier confirming that a birth certificate is correct (in case of doubt) costs CFA2500, as does an annulation and reissue of a certificate. Reported “faciliation fees” paid to intermediaries ranged from a few hundred to a few thousand francs. Interviews Dakar and Ziguinchor, May 2014. The exchange rate at the time was roughly 490 CFA francs to one US dollar. 131 Rapport de mission en République de Guinée 29 octobre - 19 novembre 2011, Commissariat Général aux Réfugiés et aux Apatrides (CGRA/Belgique), de l'Office Français de Protection des Réfugiés et Apatrides (OFPRA/France) et de l'Office Fédéral des Migrations (ODM/Suisse), March 2012. 42