attained the status of customary international law.12 If a State chooses to grant its nationality upon application, the imposition of any conditions permitted under Article 1(2) of the 1961 Convention must not have the effect of leaving the child stateless for a considerable period of time.13 An example of an automatic safeguard for otherwise stateless children can be found in Guinea-Bissau, whose Nationality Law (amended in 2010) provides: “É cidadão guineense de origem... O individuo nascido no território nacional quando não possua outra nacionalidade” (unofficial translation: “A Guinean citizen is… anyone who is born in the territory and who does not possess other nationality”).14 Similarly, Bulgaria’s Citizenship Law, amended in February 2013, states that a “Bulgarian citizen by place of birth is every person born within the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria who has not acquired another citizenship by origin”.15 These provisions appropriately cover all children born in the territory “who would otherwise be stateless”, without limiting their application to the children of stateless parents or parents who are legally resident in the territory of the State. They also avoid the pitfall of applying only to children without legal right or entitlement to another nationality, since international law defines a stateless person as someone who is not considered a national by any State under the operation of its law,16 an assessment to be made in the present, not as a predictive or historical exercise.17 Contracting States may opt for an application procedure rather than automatically granting nationality to children born on their territory who would otherwise be stateless. Such States should provide detailed information to the parents concerned about the possibility of acquiring the nationality, how to apply and what conditions must be fulfilled.18 2. Granting nationality to children born to nationals abroad when the children would otherwise be stateless The 1961 Convention establishes an obligation for Contracting States to extend nationality to children born to one of their nationals abroad when those children would otherwise be stateless. Most States provide for the transfer of nationality by descent (jus sanguinis principle). However, such transfer sometimes comes with certain conditions – often restrictive – that can impair the ability of children born abroad to inherit their parents’ nationality. The nationality law in Brazil is an example of positive reform in this regard. In 1994, the Brazilian parliament passed an amendment to the Constitution providing that the 12 The Explanatory report to the European convention on nationality (ECN), which codifies this principle in Article 4(b), refers to the obligation of avoidance of statelessness as a part of customary international law. See ECN, ETS No. 166, 1997, para. 33: https://rm.coe. int/16800ccde7. 13 See UNHCR, Guidelines on statelessness No. 4, supra, para. 11. 14 Lei da Nacionalidade, Lei No. 6/2010, Article 5. 15 Law for the Bulgarian citizenship (last amended February 2013), Article 10. 16 Article 1 of the 1954 UNHCR Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons. 17 See UNHCR, Handbook on protection of stateless persons, 30 June 2014, para. 50, available at: www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4.html. 18 See UNHCR, Guidelines on statelessness No. 4, supra, paras 53 – 54. 12