will often include those with high risk factors for statelessness (such as people born outside their parents’ country of nationality or those orphaned abroad) but who have not yet attempted to access nationality through administrative procedures. 2.3 At risk of statelessness This is a term that describes a person whose nationality status is undetermined and who has a high risk of becoming stateless due to his or her circumstances. Not all persons who are undocumented are stateless. However, certain categories of undocumented persons have a heightened risk of being or becoming stateless. People who have not had their births registered or have not yet applied for enabling documents such as birth certificates, identity documents (IDs) or passports, cannot be considered ‘stateless’ – they may be able to access nationality should they approach the relevant authorities. However, when combined with other factors, undocumented people are at risk of statelessness. Risk factors include: • • • • • • • • Birth outside one’s parents’ country of nationality; The death or desertion of one or both of parents; Irregular migration across international borders; Mixed nationality parentage; Proximity to international borders with high cross-border movement; Loss of clinic cards or other similar records; Birth outside of a registered clinic or hospital; and Persons impacted by laws that do not allow dual nationality and that require adherence to administrative procedures in order to retain nationality when the person reaches the age of majority. These factors increase the risk that a person will not be recognised by any state, despite having a legal claim to nationality. In many cases, these factors indicate a likelihood that there will be a conflict of laws between countries, leaving the person without citizenship in any state. However, until such a person approaches the relevant authority to attempt to access nationality, their nationality status remains undetermined – and hence they are ‘at risk of statelessness.’ 2.4 Birth registration Birth registration refers to the permanent and official recording of a child's existence by an administrative branch of a state. This process is ordinarily completed when the government of a state issues 8 Promoting citizenship and preventing statelessness in South Africa: A practitioner’s guide