Chapter 1 Preventing statelessness among children 1. The legal safeguards provided by nationality laws for children to acquire a nationality or to be given the nationality of the country where they are if they would otherwise be stateless 4. Rules and practices to ensure that the nationality of a state is attributed to a child who would otherwise be stateless are essential. The activation of rules to prevent statelessness requires answering the preliminary question: has the child acquired another nationality? Most respondent states1 provide that a child born on their territory who 5. would otherwise be stateless acquires by operation of law the nationality of the country of birth.2 6. However, a number of states limit this ground for access to nationality to cases where the parent(s) is(are) themselves stateless.3 Another limit is that at least one parent must be a legal resident of the state concerned.4 7. In several states, stateless children born on the territory are entitled to access to the nationality of their country of birth subject to a certain period of habitual or even lawful residence.5 The way in which this access takes place may vary from one state to another: the right to register as a national to acquire nationality by declaration of option or acquisition through entitlement to naturalisation. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Throughout the compendium, where the terms “states” or “countries” or the expression “member states” are used, they should be understood as referring to those member states that have provided replies to the questionnaire. Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain and Türkiye. Azerbaijan, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Georgia (despite having several mechanisms against statelessness), Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Republic of Moldova, North Macedonia, Poland and Slovenia. Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. Austria (along with other requirements), Germany, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and United Kingdom. ► Page 7