Some important amendments were made to the Nationality Act in 2011.39 For instance, the period of residence required for naturalization was shortened with one year, and a shorter period of residence was required for applicants who fulfil the Finnish or Swedish language skills. Furthermore, changes were introduced concerning the starting point of the period of residence. Earlier, only residence of a continuous nature was counted towards the period of residence required for naturalization. The amendment provided for the inclusion of half of the time with a temporary residence permit in the total period of required residence.40 A new Nationality Decree entered into force in May 2013.41 2.1.2 National legal framework The 2003 Nationality Act with its amendments, the Nationality Decree of 2013 and Section 5 of the Constitution comprise the current legal nationality regime of Finland. One of the main principles of the Nationality Act of 2003 is the prevention of statelessness, as stated in its travaux préparatoires.42 2.2 A statistical overview of the stateless population in Finland 2.2.1 Specifics of the data used Administrative data on the stateless population in Finland is available in two different public registers, the Finnish Population Information System (PIS) and the Register of Aliens (RA). PIS is a computerized national register that contains basic information about Finnish nationals as well as foreigners residing permanently or continuously in Finland. PIS is maintained by the Population Register Centre, which falls under the Ministry of Finance, and the Local Register Offices. Registration of information is based on statutory notifications made by private individuals and public authorities. Regarding private individuals, the Local Register Offices register basic information related to the identification of persons; the data recorded includes name, personal identity code,43 address, home municipality, citizenship, place and country of birth, native language, family relations and date of birth.44 The requirements for registering a foreigner in PIS are laid down in the Population Information Act, Section 9.45 The main principle is that a foreigner is registered in PIS if she or he has a home municipality in Finland. The regulations on home municipality are in turn found in the Act on Home Municipality,46 according to 14 39 Act amending the Nationality Act, Laki kansalaisuuslain muuttamisesta, 579/2011. 40 EUDO Citizenship Observatory Country Report: Finland, Jessica Fagerlund, Sampo Brander, September 2009, revised January 2013, EUDO Citizenship Observatory, p. 19-20. 41 Kansalaisuusasetus 293/2013. The previous Nationality Decree 799/2004 was enacted to complement the 2003 Nationality Act. The new Nationality Decree 293/2013 is to a large extent similar to the old one. The main amendment concerns the obligation of the Local Register Offices to request for determination of citizenship status by Migri (Section 1 of the new decree and Section 2 of the old decree), which will be discussed further in section 3.3 below. 42 Government Bill, Hallituksen esitys 235/2003. 43 A personal identity code is given when the person is entered into the Population Information System for the first time, in accordance with Section 11 of the Population Information Act, Laki väestötietojärjestelmästä ja Väestörekisterikeskuksen varmennepalveluista, 661/2009. 44 Homepage of the Population Registration Centre, www.vrk.fi, and the Population Information Act, 661/2009 45 The Population Information Act, 661/2009. 46 Kotikuntalaki, 201/1994. MAPPING STATELESSNESS IN FINL AND