As was the case across the world, gender discriminatory citizenship rules were found in Norwegian law. A woman’s nationality was determined according to the nationality of her father (in the case of an unmarried woman) or her husband (if married). Any changes to the father’s or husband’s nationality automatically affected a woman’s nationality.27 Similarly, a child’s nationality was based on the father’s nationality. Women were not permitted to transmit their Norwegian nationality to their children. The Norwegian Nationality Act has been amended numerous times since its first enactment in 1888. The year 1924 brought the first revision, in which the rights of Norwegian women were strengthened. With that amendment, divorced women could retain their Norwegian citizenship as long as they resided in Norway.28 Other amendments based on residence in Norway were also adopted, including a lengthened residence requirement from three years to five years for naturalization applicants. Other amendments included provisions requiring that applicants be financially self-sufficient. Apart from the liberalized provisions on citizenship for women, the amendments of 1924 were generally restrictive.29 In the aftermath of the Second World War, cooperation among the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden was strengthened. This cooperation resulted in revisions of the nationality acts of all three states in 1950, at which time married women gained an independent status from the husband’s nationality. At the same time, Norway lengthened the residency period required for naturalization from five to seven years. A shorter residency period, as well as other liberalized provisions, were provided for nationals of Nordic countries. Since 1950, the Nationality Act has been amended a number of times. In 1968, the act was amended to provide for the acquisition of Norwegian nationality by notification for persons who had been domiciled in Norway for ten years in their childhood and youth. In 1979, rights of women and children were also strengthened: children born in wedlock would now, for example, also be able to obtain their mother’s nationality. The current Nationality Act became law on 8 June 2005 and entered into force on 1 September 2006. It imposes on naturalization applicants certain requirements of knowledge of the Norwegian language and society.30 Despite significant interest among some constituents to allow for dual nationality, such a provision was not adopted.31 Dual nationality remains prohibited under Norwegian law. The provisions of the law most relevant to statelessness will be discussed in detail below. 14 27 Brochmann, G., EUDO Citizenship Observatory, Country Report: Norway, p. 9. 28 Ibid, p. 2. 29 Ibid, p. 3. 30 The Norwegian Nationality Act No 51 from 2005, Lov om norsk statsborgerskap, (‘Nationality Act’), available at: https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/2005-06-10-51. In March 2015 a law proposal to require training on the Norwegian society as mandatory for permanent residence (in addition to the existing language training requirement in the Immigration Act § 62 (1) (d), was circulated for comments, see: https://goo.gl/ZJu2gm. 31 In 1999, a preparatory committee was appointed to revise the Nationality Act. Its findings were published in the Norges Offentlige Utredninger 2000:32 (NOU) Act on acquisition and loss of Norwegian Nationality (Lov om erverv og tap av norsk statsborgerskap). The majority of the committee found that requirements for the acquisition of Norwegian Nationality should be liberalized. It recommended that applicants fulfilling the requirements be entitled to Norwegian Nationality by application. Further, it recommended that parents be equated in terms of children’s acquisition. These recommendations have been enacted. Further, it recommended allowing dual citizenship. It further recommended that knowledge of the Norwegian language and society not be required of applicants for naturalization. These recommendations were ultimately not enacted. M A P P I N G STAT E L E S S N E S S I N N O RWAY