Part I. Introduction and Context principle of the basis of which nationality may be granted to the applicant based on legal residence for a certain number of years by the competent authorities. Very often, additional conditions are attached to the acquisition of nationality through naturalization, such as integration requirements.52 Furthermore, nationality can be acquired later in life through marriage, adoption53 or investment.54 In academic discussions, the concept of jus nexi (or jus nexus55) has been contrasted with the existing ‘modes’ for acquiring nationality. Shachar has convincingly argued that the application of what she calls ius nexi, citizenship based on rootedness, “offers a path for earned citizenship arising from the existence of already established, real, and genuine ties toward the political community”.56 This could offer solutions to those who are unable to claim ‘membership’ based on the prevailing principles of jus sanguinis and jus soli. This approach to citizenship has been endorsed by for instance Hirsch Ballin57 and by some experts in a debate on ‘bloodlines and belonging’.58 As was indicated already above, the bond of nationality can also cease to exist at some point.59 This happens when nationality is voluntarily renounced, or when nationality is involuntarily lost (by operation of the law) or when a person is deprived of nationality (through an administrative act). This can – under circumstances – result in statelessness, for instance when the person involved has no other (second) nationality or does not acquire a new nationality, and can happen in individual cases but also on a large-scale basis. The concept of nationality was traditionally “intended to regulate relationships among sovereign states”.60 Nationality was indeed the connection between a person and 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 18 On integration requirements see for instance Tamar de Waal, ‘Conditional Belonging: A LegalPhilosophical Inquiry into Integration Requirements for Immigrants in Europe’ (PhD, University of Amsterdam 2017). See also Laura van Waas, Nationality Matters. Statelessness under International Law (School of Human Rights Research Series vol 29, Intersentia 2008) 34. Rainer Bauböck (ed), Debating Transformations of National Citizenship (IMISCOE Research Series, SpringerOpen 2018), Part I: Should Citizenship Be for Sale?, 2–70. Ernst Hirsch Ballin, Citizens’ Rights and the Right to Be a Citizen (Developments in International Law Vol 66, Brill Nijhoff 2014) 83. Ayelet Shachar, ‘Earned Citizenship: Property Lessons for Immigration Reform’ (2011) 23 Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities 110, 113. See also Ayelet Shachar, The Birthright Lottery. Citizenship and Global Inequality (Harvard University Press 2009). Ernst Hirsch Ballin, Citizens’ Rights and the Right to Be a Citizen (Developments in International Law Vol 66, Brill Nijhoff 2014). Rainer Bauböck (ed), Debating Transformations of National Citizenship (IMISCOE Research Series, SpringerOpen 2018), Part II: Bloodlines and Belonging, 71–160. Laura van Waas, Nationality Matters. Statelessness under International Law (School of Human Rights Research Series vol 29, Intersentia 2008) 34, Alice Edwards, ‘The Meaning of Nationality in International Law in an Era of Human Rights: Procedural and Substantive Aspects’ in Alice Edwards & Laura van Waas (eds), Nationality and Statelessness under International Law (Cambridge University Press 2014) 21–23. On loss of nationality in Europe see also Maarten Vink & Gerard-René de Groot, ‘Loss of Citizenship: Trends and Regulations in Europe’ (EUDO Citizenship Report 2010) RSCAS/ EUDO-CIT-Comp. 2010/4 <https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/19575> accessed 22 August 2021. Johannes M M Chan, ‘The Right to a Nationality as a Human Right. The Current Trend Towards Recognition’ (1980) 12 Human Rights Law Journal 1. Intersentia