In 2014, Brazil drafted legislation aimed at preventing statelessness throughout the region, and the country has been identified as a leader on this issue.2 Brazil’s history as a Portuguese colony offers some contrast to the former Spanish colonies in the region. Brazil’s location makes it a transit destination for many migrants from regions like Africa as well as Latin America. Despite the language barrier for migrants from other Latin American countries, Brazil’s past economic development has made it an attractive destination for economic migrants. Thus the country’s response to these migration flows might expose any retrenchment in state policies and practices. Colombia is also a transit destination for many migrants, and Chile’s current economic growth has attracted migrants in much the same way as Brazil’s has. Unlike Brazil, these countries have explicit legal restrictions to the implementation of jus soli. In Colombia, the granting of nationality at birth is subject to at least one parent being a Colombian national or legal resident. Chile used to exclude the children of transient foreigners from acquisition of nationality by birth in the territory. Thus these countries provide a significant contrast with Brazil. At the same time, like Brazil, Chile and Colombia have strong constitutional protections for human rights and positive birth registration policies. Methodological Models The methodology drew on four models to guide the desk research, create a questionnaire and interview questions, and write this report. The European Union Observatory on Democracy (EUDO) provided the first model. Researchers at EUDO identified a set of methodologies to assess and compare the implementation of nationality laws3 across European countries by condensing qualitative information into indicators that serve as a basis for a quantitative analysis.4 The researchers behind EUDO began adapting their methodology to study nationality laws in the Western hemisphere recently, and have studied the grounds of acquisition and loss of citizenship in the Americas and the Caribbean.5 The present study incorporates the five factors the EUDO methodology takes into account: • Promotion: How government authorities help applicants meet legal conditions to access rights. • Documentation: How easy or hard it is for applicants to provide evidentiary means to meet the legal conditions. • Discretion: The scope of interpretation of legal provisions that is permitted to government authorities. 10 METHODOLOGY