Embassy in Uzbekistan, before leaving Central Asia. Previously they had first to go to Ukraine before renouncing their Uzbek citizenship. They risked becoming stateless persons in Ukraine if their applications for naturalization failed, a problem which ceased to exist when a new Citizenship Law of Ukraine was adopted on 18 January 2001. In 2008 Kazakhstan and Mongolia began negotiating an agreement on a simplified procedure for acquiring nationality and avoiding dual nationality. Until it is concluded, they have agreed on a better means of exchanging information.184 2.7.3 Information about nationality procedures Written information on how to acquire nationality is generally available in offices of Ministries of Internal Affairs, diplomatic representations and on governmental websites in each of the four States where field research was undertaken. UNHCR and its NGO partners also disseminate this information. In Turkmenistan, a mobile registration campaign has made information on naturalization available in remote parts of the country. UNHCR understands that copies are also disseminated through SMST outposts near rural settlements. In 2007, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan participated in a UNHCR regional round table in Dushanbe and agreed on the need for a public information campaign on statelessness, targeting populations who are at highest risk, but this has not taken place in all countries. There has been no information drive even in Kyrgyzstan, where positive changes in the law have helped resolve the problems of some stateless people. Stateless persons in Kyrgyzstan told the UNHCR-sponsored survey that they did not know the rules for registering, or acquiring a passport. They also said they found it difficult to compile the documentary evidence, or afford the fee, which is 2,000 Kyrgyz SOM185, or 100 Kyrgyz SOM186 for ethnic Kyrgyz, refugees and forced migrants. Some stateless persons interviewed by UNHCR in Tajikistan, said that when they approached the authorities about naturalizations, officials did not properly explain the next step of any procedure, or what someone stateless must do to acquire citizenship. 2.7.4 Factors impeding the effectiveness of procedures for acquisition of citizenship Overall, procedures for acquisition of citizenship are cumbersome and make it difficult for many stateless persons to acquire nationality. The list of documents required from applicants for naturalization is generally long and detailed, involving originals as well as copies and a notarised translation endorsed by the relevant embassy, where the original is in the language of another State. In addition to a certificate proving they are not citizens of another State, applicants may be asked to produce: proof of identify; colour photographs; a curriculum vitae; proof of legal income and of five years’ continuous residence; a stamp duty receipt; a reference from their place of work; a reference from their residents’ association; and proof of a criminal record or absence of it. Where naturalization of minors is involved they may also be required to produce: a marriage certificate; birth certificates and the notarised consent of minor dependents of between 14 and 18 years to a change in their citizenship. Proof of refugee status, linguistic proficiency, scientific achievements and financial investments may also be required under simplified procedures for naturalization. This evidence is 184 Press release of 4 April 2008 from the Foreign Ministries’ Working Group in Ulan-Bator said there were 30,641 persons in Kazakhstan who had renounced their Mongolian citizenship and 33,812 with both Mongolian and Kazakhstan citizenship. Of 88,333 Mongolian immigrants to Kazakhstan between 1991 and 2007 – some of whom may have been stateless – it said 76,000 had received Kazakh nationality by 1 April 2008. 185 This equaled approximately 43 US Dollars according to exchanges rates of 30 April 2010. 186 Approximately 2 US Dollars. ~ 28 ~