Notably, the period of residence required to qualify for naturalization in Norway is reduced by four years (from seven to three years) for stateless persons, pursuant to Article 16 of the Norwegian Nationality Act. Norway is to be commended for reducing by four years the statutory residence period required of stateless applicants for naturalization. Importantly, however, in order to obtain Norwegian nationality, a person must have a claim to citizenship independent of statelessness. Under Article 7 of the Norwegian Nationality Act, an applicant has a right to Norwegian nationality if the applicant, at the time of the decision-making: a) has clearly established his or her identity; b) is at least 12 years old; c) currently is and will be a resident in the Norwegian state; d) fulfils the conditions for a permanent residence permit set out in Article 62 of the Immigration Act;198 e) has a total of seven years’ residence in the country over the last ten years, with residence permits of duration of at least one year (residency during one or more application procedures is to be included in the 7-year period); f) fulfils the Norwegian language learning requirement; g) has not been sentenced to penalties or special criminal sanctions or has endured the waiting period; and h) fulfils the requirement of renunciation of another nationality in accordance with Article 10 of the Nationality Act. Article 16 of the Nationality Act establishes exceptions to the requirements of Article 7 for stateless persons who apply for Norwegian nationality. According to Article 16, stateless persons are exempted from the minimum age requirement of Article 7(b), and the requirement of the minimum length of residence of Article 7(e) is reduced from seven to three years. In addition, the requirement of Article 7(h) that the applicant prove he or she has been released from a former nationality is not relevant to stateless persons and is therefore not applied.199 The other requirements of Article 7 apply equally to stateless persons as to other applicants for Norwegian nationality. For example, as per Article 7(1)d, a stateless applicant needs to fulfil the requirements to be granted a permanent residence permit according to Article 62 of the Immigration Act, which states a minimum length of three years of residence in Norway based on a temporary residence permit.200 It should be noted that it is not required that the applicant has applied or has been granted a permanent residence permit at the time of the application for Norwegian nationality. He or she just needs to meet the requirements as set out in Article 62 of the Immigration Act. Stateless applicants for Norwegian nationality also need to establish their identity, as per Article 7(1)a of the Nationality Act. Amendments to Article 7(1) were passed in the Norwegian Parliament on 27 April 2012,201 according to which the wording of Article 7(1)a of the Nationality Act now states that the applicant will have to “establish his identity,” with no further references to documentary requirements as was previously the case.202 This amendment lowers the evidentiary burden as to the requirement of establishing one’s identity. The exemptions apply to applicants who: (i) are born in Norway and are registered in NR; (ii) came to Norway as minors and have at least one parent with established identity; (iii) applicants who have resided legally in Norway for five years and who had not turned 14 years at the time when they were granted their first residence permit, and who cannot provide sufficient passport; or (iv) applicants who have resided legally in Norway for ten years and were 14, 15 or 16 years old at the time when they were granted their first residence permits and cannot provide sufficient passport. 198 Article 62 of the Immigration Act describes conditions to be fulfilled to gain permanent residence. 199 Article 16 of the Nationality Act. 200 The Norwegian Government has issued a law proposal increasing the required period of residence to five years, see Høring – endringer i utlendingsloven og utlendingsforskriften – hevet botidskrav for permanent oppholdstillatelse mv. – endringer i statsborgerloven, available from: https://goo.gl/ZJu2gm; and UNHCR’s comments to the proposal, available from: https://goo.gl/7XJe5d. 201 Act of amendments to the Nationality Act no. 22/2012, Lov om endringer i statesborgerloven nr. 22/2012. 202 Ibid, changes to Article 7 (1) a of the Nationality Act, entered into force on 1 January 2013. UNHCR STOCKHOLM, OCTOBER 2015 49