Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan also require the applicant to be able to communicate in the State or official language and to submit proof of a legal source of income.147 Proof of a lawful source of income is also a requirement in Uzbekistan.148 A simplified procedure is available for petitioners who meet set criteria.149 The simplified procedure significantly reduces the residency required before submitting the petition – in Kyrgyzstan, for example, from five years down to one.150 The simplified procedure may also have a faster processing time, which is the case in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.151 Criteria that reduce the residency requirements for naturalization include being married to a citizen; being a minor or having a physical or mental disability; great achievements in science, technology or culture, or other special qualifications of interest to the State, as well as distinguished service to the State; investments in priority sectors of the national economy; or being a recognized refugee.152 None of the States offers facilitated naturalization for everyone recognized as stateless, though some do facilitate naturalization for certain categories of persons, who are, or may be, stateless. All Central Asian States offer reduced residency requirements to specific groups of persons on the basis of titular ethnic origin and a historical bond with the State. For instance, in Turkmenistan, ethnic Turkmens who were born and reside in States outside the former Soviet Union are entitled to apply under a simplified procedure. The same is the case for persons who were either forcibly deported from Turkmenistan or who left as a result of political or religious persecution, and their descendants.153 In Kazakhstan, residency requirements are lifted for persons who left Kazakhstan but have now returned to their historical motherland for permanent residence, and their descendants. In practice, the application of this provision has been restricted to ethnic Kazakhs, the Oralmany.154 In addition to this, no residency requirements appear to be in place for persons who are citizens of former Soviet republics who have arrived to reside permanently in Kazakhstan and who have a close relative who is a Kazakh citizen, or for victims of political repression and their descendants.155 In Kyrgyzstan, residency requirements are reduced to one year if a person has at least one parent who is a Kyrgyz citizen and who lives in Kyrgyzstan. The same applies if the person was born in the Kyrgyz SSR and used to hold a USSR citizenship, or if he/she is of Kyrgyz ethnic origin.156 In Tajikistan, facilitated naturalization is provided to persons who are former USSR citizens or who in the past held Tajik citizenship by birth.157 Section II, 1992 Regulation No UP-500 ‘On the Procedure for Considering Issues related to the Citizenship of the Republic of Uzbekistan’. 147 Article 13 and 14, 2007 Citizenship Law of Kyrgyzstan; Article 18(2) and (4), 1992 Citizenship Law of Turkmenistan. In Turkmenistan, the source of income must be inside Turkmenistan. 148 Article 17(3), 1992 Citizenship Law of Uzbekistan. 149 In Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan a specific, simplified procedure has been established for these categories of persons. The Citizenship Law of Tajikistan allows for acquisition of citizenship through registration for spouses of Tajik citizens and children born of at least one Tajik citizen who acquired another citizenship at birth, while reduced residency requirements apply for naturalization of certain other categories of applicants. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan do not formally distinguish between an ordinary and simplified procedure for acquisition of nationality, but entitle specific categories of persons to reduced residency requirements. 150 Article 14, 2007 Citizenship Law of Kyrgyzstan. 151 Article 34(4), 2007 Citizenship Law of Kyrgyzstan; Article 47, 1995 Citizenship Law of Tajikistan, says the turnaroundtime for applications from persons who qualify for acquisition of citizenship by registration is 6 months, as opposed to 9 nine months under the general procedure for naturalization. 152 Only Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan offer a simplified naturalization procedure for recognized refugees. 153 Article 19, 1992 Citizenship Law of Turkmenistan. 154 Article 16(1), 1991 Citizenship Law of Kazakhstan. 155 Article 3 and 16(2), 1991 Citizenship Law of Kazakhstan; Article 21, 1993 Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan ‘on the Rehabilitation of Victims of Mass Political Repression’. 156 Article 14, 2007 Citizenship Law of Kyrgyzstan. 157 Article 23(3), 1995 Citizenship Law of Tajikistan. ~ 24 ~