118 Swider and den Heijer detailed guidelines on the design and standards of such a procedure, Member State practices deviate considerably from the standards set by UNHCR. This in itself testifies to the need for more authoritative interpretative guidance and supervision at a supranational level.64 Further, the absence in many Member States of a route by which stateless persons can regularise their status leaves some stateless persons at risk of permanent marginalization. Although the two UN Conventions do not specify when and how a residence permit needs to be issued to a stateless person, legal residence appears a crucial condition in a majority of—if not all—EU Member States for being able to access fully the protection regime of the 1954 Convention.65 In the context of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which also does not foresee in an explicit entitlement to legal residence, it has long been recognised by virtually all State Parties that granting residence, initially temporary, is in many cases the only appropriate solution for refugees—simply because they cannot return to their country of origin. Likewise, for stateless persons who are not admissible into another State, a statelessness-specific residence ground may be the only means by which they can secure a place to build a life. This is, however, reflected in the immigration regimes of only a handful of EU Member States.66 In other Member States, stateless persons may be able to establish residence on other (humanitarian) grounds, but those do not guarantee that every stateless person enjoys adequate protection.67 In Germany, for example, stateless persons whose deportation proves impossible can receive a toleration certificate (Duldung) or in some cases even a residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis), but neither of these statuses guarantees 64 Mandal, R., Procedures for Determining Whether a Person is Stateless, Discussion paper No. 3 for the UNHCR Handbook on the Determination of Statelessness, November (Geneva, UNHCR, 2010), p. 6. 65 See also UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons (Geneva, UNHCR, 2014), para 147–150. 66 These are all the Member States with a statelessness determination procedure: France, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Slovakia, United Kingdom and Latvia. See the European Network on Statelessness (ENS), Statelessness Determination and the Protection Status of Stateless Persons: A summary guide of good practices and factors to consider when designing national determination and protection mechanisms (London, ENS, 2013), p. 36. In addition, in Belgium a right of residence can be granted to those who have been identified as stateless in court, see UNHCR, Mapping Statelessness in Belgium (Geneva, UNHCR, 2012). 67 See Batchelor, C., ‘The 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons: Implementation Within the European Union Member States and Recommendations for Harmonization’, 22(2) Refuge (2005) 44. See also UNHCR, Mapping Statelessness in the Netherlands (Geneva, UNHCR, 2011), pp. 44–45. European Journal of Migration and Law 19 (2017) 101–135