nationality (para. 37). Decisions on recognition of loss of nationality are accompanied by a file of documents confirming disloyalty or misrepresentation and fraud, including interview notes, certificates from place of residence and place of work, as well as copies of identity documents and other relevant materials as required (para. 38). If citizenship was acquired as a result of misrepresentation or fraud, it is deemed as rescinded from the moment of its acquisition. The law does not establish a time limit after which revocation of nationality as a result of misrepresentation or fraud is no longer permitted and nationality in such cases is deemed invalid from the its acquisition (The 2007 Citizenship Regulations, para. 42). Legislation does not take into account the gravity of misrepresentation or the nature of links established by the offender to the Kyrgyz Republic. The 2007 Citizenship Regulations provide that the decision is made by the Ministry of Interior, or the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and its diplomatic representatives regarding loss of nationality shall indicate whether the loss of Kyrgyz citizenship also affects any underage children, ‘in cases provided by law’. However, the 2007 Citizenship Law does not include any specific provision to this effect and is also unclear as to which ‘cases provided by law’ the 2007 Citizenship Regulations refer to. For children aged 14 and above, the 2007 Citizenship Law requires their written consent for their nationality to be changed if their parents choose to change their nationality ( Citizenship Law, Article 21). Compliance with International Standards: The Kyrgyz Citizenship Law does not contain any provision referring to ‘deprivation of nationality’. However, Article 26 refers to grounds for loss of Kyrgyz nationality which generally coincide with the grounds for deprivation of nationality listed in Article 8 of the 1961 Convention.19 Article 6 of the 1961 Convention requires states to condition the loss or deprivation of nationality by a person’s spouse or children as a result of that person losing or being deprived of their nationality but based on their possession or acquisition of another nationality. When a person is deprived of his/her Kyrgyz citizenship due to military service in a foreign country or misrepresentation, it is not clear from current Kyrgyz legislation whether their dependants also lose their citizenship. Compliance with the above-mentioned standard of the 1961 Convention is therefore not established. It is necessary for the government to clarify in legislation whether a dependent automatically loses nationality if the spouse or parent is striped of theirs; in particularly in order to prevent statelessness. 2.7 Exercise of nationality in practice The 2007 Citizenship Regulations set a time period of one month within which an individual whose application has received a positive decision shall be informed (para. 54). After which a Kyrgyz passport is issued either by the internal affairs bodies or the consular section of the embassy overseas (2007 Citizenship Law, Article 39). The Southern survey, referring to discussions with internal affairs bodies’ staff, drew attention to the scarcity of human resources available to process nationality documents as the foremost obstacle to documenting eligible individuals with national passports efficiently. According to Kyrgyz law, stateless persons who have been confirmed or have acquired Kyrgyz nationality enjoy the same range of rights as other nationals of the country, including the right to reside in and return to the country, right to a passport, right to vote, to stand for office, participate in public affairs, and seek employment in public service. The 2007 Citizenship Law clearly provides that citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic have equal rights, 19 Article 7 and Article 8 of the 1961 Convention on Reduction of Statelessness refer to loss and deprivation of nationality respectively, a distinction drawn on the basis of withdrawal ex lege (automatically) or through executive act. 71 Small Changes ‫ ـ‬Big Gains: An Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic