When is a person no longer considered to be stateless? The condition of being stateless ends when the individual concerned acquires a nationality. Under a 1994 amendment to Brazil’s Constitution, children born overseas to Brazilian parents could not obtain Brazilian citizenship unless they returned to live in Brazil. Civil society groups estimated that within a dozen years, 200,000 children had been made stateless. In 2007, when Brazil acceded to the 1961 Convention, the National Congress approved a constitutional amendment that replaced the residence requirement with consular registration as a precondition for the acquisition of citizenship. This reform applied retroactively, and helped many stateless children acquire Brazilian citizenship. When is a statelessness determination procedure the appropriate response? Statelessness determination procedures generally assist States in meeting their commitments under the 1954 Convention. While the 1954 Convention defines a stateless person, it does not elaborate a procedure for identifying who is stateless. Yet, it is implicit in the 1954 Convention that States must identify stateless persons within their jurisdictions so as to provide them with appropriate treatment to comply with their Convention commitments. The use of statelessness determination procedures, however, is only appropriate for those stateless persons who are in a migratory context. For stateless persons who are in their “own country” or in‑situ populations, determination procedures for the purpose of obtaining status as stateless persons are not appropriate because of their strong ties, such as long‑term habitual residence, to these countries. Depending on the circumstances of the populations under consideration, States are advised to undertake targeted nationality campaigns or nationality verification efforts rather than use statelessness determination procedures in relation to these populations. What are the procedures used for determining whether a person is stateless? Only a small number of States have created specialized procedures to undertake statelessness determination. However, there is an increasing interest among States to establish such procedures. Where to locate statelessness determination procedures institutionally is a matter of State discretion and can vary from State to State. Regardless of where statelessness determination procedures are located within a State’s legal or administrative framework, it is important that examiners develop expertise on statelessness determination while ensuring that procedures are accessible to the concerned population. This requires a balance between centralizing expertise to conduct statelessness determination within a specialized administrative or judicial unit of trained and experienced officials, while allowing individuals to lodge applications with government representatives who might be spread out across the country. Some States have adopted implementing legislation that designates specific agencies within the government – offices that deal specifically with asylum, refugees and stateless persons, or the Ministry of the Interior, for example – that will examine and adjudicate claims of statelessness. 20