Identified promising practices In Belgium, the attribution of nationality pursuant to Article 10 of the Belgian Nationality Code cannot be subject to the obligation to prove statelessness on the part of either the child or the parent(s). In Portugal, in the specific case of persons born on Portuguese territory who do not hold another nationality, the law provides for the acquisition of nationality by operation of the law regardless of whether the residence of the parents and/or child is lawful or not. In addition, Portuguese nationality can be acquired by operation of the law if a person is born on Portuguese territory, and the birth certificate indicates that he or she does not have another nationality. Registration must be made if it is proven that the person does not have another nationality. Proof of statelessness and the person’s birth certificate are submitted by the registrar to the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais (Registrar of the Central Registry), who is the competent authority to analyse them and decide whether to authorise the above-mentioned registration. In practice, if the parents have not been registered previously as stateless, they must provide proof of statelessness. The parents are required to submit statements from relevant embassies/consulates confirming that the child does not have the nationality of the relevant state. The Central Registry may establish direct contacts with relevant embassies/consulates so that the burden of proof does not rest solely on the applicant (or his/her representatives). If, at the end of the three-month period, no information has been provided on the acquisition of the nationality of the countries with which the person concerned has relevant links, as requested ex officio, it will be presumed that the person concerned has not acquired the nationality of any of these countries and Portuguese nationality will be granted. Preventing statelessness among children ► Page 11