EUROPEAN UNION AGENCY FOR ASYLUM (b) Descent Nationality is often determined on the basis of the nationality of the applicant’s parents or ancestor(s) in direct line (jus sanguinis). Therefore, an applicant may have acquired and hold the nationality(ies) of both their parents. Keep in mind, though, that whilst the nationality laws of some countries permit mothers to pass on their nationality, this is not always the case. In some cases, it is only fathers who can pass it on. Applicants born of parents who hold different nationalities may potentially hold the nationality of each of the parents. In such situations, keep in mind the rules of transmission of nationality for each of the relevant countries. For example, if the parents are not married, the father may only be legally considered as such if he has formally acknowledged the child. If paternity was not acknowledged, the nationality of the father may not be transmitted to the child. In addition, depending on national law, acknowledgement of paternity may be possible only by the father within an official marriage. This could potentially exclude the acquisition of the nationality of one or of both of their parents, for example: • for children born out of wedlock, including for children born of an LGBTQI+ couple; • for children born of parents that were married only traditionally or religiously; • for children of a couple where the father was married to a woman other than the applicant’s mother. On the contrary, a child born out of wedlock may have also acquired the nationality based on legitimation (i.e. legal acknowledgement of paternity after birth) by a father who is a national of a country different to that of the mother.  If neither of the parents’ nationalities can be transmitted to the child because of the national rules related to the transmission of nationality by descent, or because both parents are stateless, this may cause statelessness.  The implementation of the legislation of a state may conflict with that of another state and lead to statelessness. For example, State A, in which the individual was born, grants nationality by descent only (jus sanguinis), but the individual’s parents are nationals of State B. State B, on the other hand, grants nationality on the basis of place of birth (jus soli) and, under its nationality law, children born to a national abroad do not acquire nationality in all circumstances. The individual is thus rendered stateless. ( 60)  Laws which make it impossible for mothers to pass their nationality on to their children may lead to statelessness when the father is either not recognised by national law (e.g. he has not acknowledged the child or the child was born out of wedlock), is unknown/absent, stateless or is unable to pass on his own nationality. (60) UNHCR, Nationality and Statelessness: Handbook for Parliamentarians N° 22, July 2014, p. 34. 26