Nationality and Cases of Statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa in this manner, an application process must be completed and the lodging of the application must take place at one particular office which has been identified for this purpose in the heart of Tahrir, Cairo. This makes it very difficult for families living far from the city to claim nationality for their children, given the time and cost of making the journey to the office. The onset of the Arab Revolution in Egypt, the political instability in the country and the repeated demonstrations in precisely that part of Cairo made access to this procedure even more complicated. As such, there are likely to be many children who qualify for Egyptian nationality under the law but who have yet to acquire it in practice because they have not completed the necessary application procedure. Lebanon offers another example of administrative hurdles that are affecting the acquisition of nationality by children. There, problems arise from the intrinsic relationship between birth registration and the recognition of Lebanese nationality. Where, for whatever reason, a child’s birth is not registered within 30 days after birth,197 subsequent registration incurs a fine which can act as a deterrent. Repeated late registration may lead to a more severe sanction as it becomes a matter for criminal law, whereby 197 - The period prescribed by the Personal Status Registration Act of 1951. 150