Existing Statelessness determination procedure procedure by the competent authority. In Costa Rica, the immigration authorities are obliged to immediately notify the Legal Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship in the event that they identify a potential stateless person. The Directorate will inform the person of the possibility to apply for statelessness status. Another option is that the authorities who are in contact with people who may be stateless inform them that they could apply for statelessness status. This duty to inform has been explicitly included in the Hungarian legislation establishing the SDP. According to the regulations in Spain, those with a potential statelessness claim identified in the course of the asylum procedure should be informed of the possibility of initiating the SDP. Access to the procedure needs to be open to anyone who claims to be stateless, regardless of whether or not that person already has lawful stay or residence in the country. Georgia’s Ordinance No. 523 on the Approval of the Procedures for Determining the Status of a Stateless Person in Georgia states explicitly that the procedure is open to any stateless person, regardless of the legality of the person’s stay in Georgia. Similarly, there are no conditions for accessing the procedure in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay. Although Hungary’s law establishing the SDP included a requirement of lawful stay in the country, a landmark decision by the Hungarian Constitutional Court in February 2015 struck down this requirement, finding it inconsistent with national law.22 In Bulgaria, the legislation establishing the SDP originally stated that an application could be refused on the grounds that the applicant entered Bulgaria irregularly, was staying or transiting through Bulgaria irregularly, or had resided lawfully in Bulgaria for less than five years. The legislation was amended in 2019 so that an application may no longer be refused on the aforementioned grounds. In Bulgaria, UNHCR launched a website for stateless persons with the aim to provide information about the SDP, how to access the procedure, the required level of proof and other elements of the procedure.23 The website is available in Bulgarian, Russian, English and Arabic. In addition to information about the rights granted upon recognition of statelessness status, there is also a special section on provision of legal assistance. 22 See Resolution 6/2015 (II.25.) of the Constitutional Court on the determination whether the term “lawfully” in Section 76(1) of Act II of 2007 on the conditions of Entry and Stay of Third-Country Nationals is contrary to the Fundamental Act and the annulment thereof, Hungary: Constitutional Court, 25 February 2015, available: http://www.refworld.org/docid/5542301a4.html 23 The website can be accessed at: http://statelessness.bg/. 12 U N H C R > G P P AC T I O N 6 : E S TA B L I S H I N G S TAT E L E S S N E S S D E T E R M I N AT I O N P R O C E D U R E S