It is important that any exceptions that apply to attribution of nationality based on birth in the territory take account of stateless children. For example, many Latin American and Caribbean countries that generally apply a jus soli approach have an exception for children born on their territory whose parents are “transient” (transeúnte), i.e. only temporarily in the country; in these cases, unless there is an additional provision to grant nationality to children who would otherwise be stateless, even a general jus soli approach may leave many at risk of statelessness.21 In other countries, the exception for “transient” parents is much less restrictively applied. In Chile, for example, the courts have consistently ruled that the exception should apply to only a very limited number of children (please see country study, pages 19-22). Children of nationals born abroad22 Many countries following jus sanguinis rules provide for unlimited transmission of nationality for multiple generations of those born abroad to their nationals. Others, however, do not allow transmission of nationality for the children of a parent who has been resident outside the country for an extended period, or for a second or third generation born abroad. Since a substantial number of States do not have safeguards in their nationality law for children born stateless or found in the country to acquire their nationality automatically, it is critical that States provide the right to children born abroad to acquire the nationality of a parent, so long as the child does not acquire the nationality of the State of birth. A number of Latin American countries have in recent years amended their laws to provide easier access to nationality for children born to their citizens abroad. This is so even where the children do not establish residence in the country of nationality of the parents. Historically, these countries have had a jus soli tradition and therefore did not previously provide an automatic right to nationality for children of their nationals born abroad. Examples are Chile (see country study, pages 19-22) and Brazil (see country study in the Good Practices Paper for Action 1).23 The United Kingdom, which also had an absolute jus soli rule until 1983, restricts transmission of citizenship by descent for those born outside the country to only one generation. This restriction does not apply, however, if the child does not acquire any other nationality at birth. In such cases, the child is entitled to registration as a citizen.24 21 This has been the case, for example, in the Dominican Republic, which had such a constitutional provision until 2010, and began to interpret it in a very restrictive way from the 1990s, an interpretation confirmed by the constitutional court in 2013. See, for example, reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and UNHCR. 22 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, Article 4. 23 See note 8, UNHCR Good Practices Paper - Action 1. 24 However, a child over 10 years old is subject to a “good character” test even if stateless. “Registration by entitlement of minors born outside the United Kingdom/the qualifying territories to British citizens by descent,” Nationality Instructions, Volume 1, Chapter 10, 2 December 2013. 6 CAMPAIGN TO END STATELESSNESS WITHIN 10 YE ARS