III. Brazil Brazil practices the automatic grant of nationality, providing universal jus soli citizenship for all children born in Brazil; the only exception is for children born to parents who are in Brazil in the service of a foreign government. Brazil’s unrestricted jus soli exemplifies the most common method for acquiring nationality in the continental Americas: 17 other countries in the region follow the same practice.75 However, like many other countries in Latin America, Brazil expanded jus sanguinis provisions recently, in 2007. A child born outside Brazil’s territory can gain Brazilian nationality if born to a Brazilian parent who is in the service of the Brazilian government, or if born to a national of Brazil who either registers the birth at a consular office or goes through a federal procedure to confirm nationality. Brazil’s unrestricted jus soli norms, enshrined in early constitutional provisions, have been the law throughout the country’s history. In this regard and others, Brazil exemplifies good practices: in addition to unrestricted jus soli, the government has supported a civil society campaign to expand jus sanguinis provisions for stateless children born outside of the territory to Brazilian parents,76 and enacted legislation to address statelessness. There are promising signs that Brazil will continue to enact inclusive policies and protections for stateless populations, evidenced by pending draft legislation proposing a statelessness determination procedure and facilitated naturalization for recognized stateless persons. Unfortunately, this promising initiative has yet to secure adoption.77 Place of birth and parentage are fundamental factors in proving entitlement to nationality under the law, regardless of whether it stems from jus soli or jus sanguinis.78 In Brazil, birth certificates serve as direct proof of nationality, so procedures for birth registration are fundamental to ensuring the right to Brazilian nationality at BORN IN THE AMERICAS 39