In addition, the children most at risk of statelessness – those whose parents are stateless or are undocumented migrants – face an additional barrier in accessing section 2(2) protection. Section 2(2) requires that a birth is registered in order for a child to access citizenship. However, Regulation 8 of the Births and Deaths Act now requires that the parents have a valid permit when registering the child and that a foreign father must produce a paternity test at his own cost. While this regulation may be intended to aid the child by clarifying the identity of the parents, the result is that a parent who is without an identity document and/or without a valid immigration permit and/or cannot afford a paternity test will not be able to apply for a birth certificate for his or her child. Undocumented parents or those with expired immigration permits are aware that arrest is a possibility and thus delay birth registration. In addition to the challenges created by the Births and Deaths Act and its regulations, xenophobia and lack of awareness on the part of Home Affairs officials has complicated the enforcement of universal birth registration in South Africa. Since March 2011, Lawyers for Human Rights has consulted with over a hundred clients who have been unable to access a birth certificate for a child born in the Republic. Asylum seekers, refugees, undocumented migrants and marginalised South Africans alike have been turned away for lack of a South African identity document (an unfounded requirement); expired or lost permits; and inability to produce any government-issued identity document. Finding a solution for clients: immigration status and citizenship their birth outside their parents’ country of nationality – are not accessing this right. While applicants for birth registration are assessed as to whether one parent is a citizen or permanent resident, at no point during or after birth registration – the critical point at which ID numbers are assigned – does Home Affairs assess whether or not such children in fact have 'the citizenship or nationality of any other country' or have the right to such citizenship or nationality. Stateless children born in South Africa to foreign parents Whether a child qualifies for South African citizenship due to lack of another nationality or citizenship – or lack of the right to another nationality or citizenship – depends entirely on his or her parents’ countries of origin and the relevant citizenship law and practice of those countries. For that reason, provided herein is an analysis of the nationality law and practice of a sampling of countries whose nationality laws are likely to create statelessness if their citizens give birth in South Africa. Promoting citizenship and preventing statelessness in South Africa: A practitioner’s guide 87