of relevance to the increasing practice of cross-border marriages, especially to East Asia, often involving a Cambodian wife. The 2018 Law on Nationality provides an avenue for naturalisation to obtain Cambodian citizenship (Articles 18-20). It is important to note that naturalization is not a right or entitlement, but rather a discretionary administrative decision once certain requirements are met. Article 19 of the law stipulates the conditions required for a foreigner to apply for naturalisation. These conditions are often vaguely formulated based on behaviour, criminal history, Khmer language proficiency, and ‘mentality and physical attitude’.26 Importantly, the law requires seven years of continuous residence in Cambodia from the date of reception of a resident card, issued under the Law on Immigration for immigrant aliens.27 Article 20 reduces this requirement to three years for any immigrant alien born in Cambodia. The residence card requirement has been problematic in practice, as there were considerable delays before the first residency cards were issued to ‘immigrant aliens’ (see more under 4.1.). Furthermore, a new permanent resident card was introduced, particularly for longterm resident populations of Vietnamese descent, and made compulsory more than 20 years after the Immigration Law came into force, as will be further explained. An individual can also obtain nationality through certain investment pathways, but this provision is less relevant for stateless populations and their specific socioeconomic conditions. 3.3. Civil status and civil registration At the time of writing, Cambodia is undertaking a significant reform of its civil status laws and civil registration systems. For more than two decades, civil registration had been regulated by Sub-Decree No. 103 on Civil Status, which determined the procedures and formalities of civil status in Cambodia, including birth, marriage and death registration.28 There were at least two flaws with this regime that had an impact on stateless people or those at risk of statelessness. First, other than nationals, the provision was nominally open only to foreigners ‘living lawfully’ in the country.29 As such, the framework did not aim for universal civil registration coverage of everyone living on Cambodia’s territory. As will be shown later, populations of Vietnamese origin are widely reported to have suffered from systematic exclusion from birth and other civil registration. 26 See also Sub-Decree No. 287 on Forms and Procedures for Acquisition of Citizenship through Naturalisation, dated 31 May 2013. 27 Law on Immigration (1994), Art. 12 & 14. 28 Sub-Decree No. 103 on Civil Status, 29 December 2000. 29 Sub-Decree No. 103 on Civil Status, Arts. 2 & 27. 10