PRACTICAL GUIDE ON NATIONALITY 3.3.1. Concept of ‘country of former habitual residence’ The concept of country of former habitual residence is a factual one, based on all relevant personal and contextual circumstances of the individual applicant. This distinguishes it from the concept of nationality, which depends on the existence of a legal link with a state, which in turn presupposes the existence of such a state (see above Section 2.3. The country of nationality as a state). The notion of ‘former habitual residence’ is not defined by the Refugee Convention itself nor by the QR (or the QD (recast)). It is important to note that the concept of country of former habitual residence included in Articles 3(5) and (6) QR ( 62) is applicable to stateless applicants only. The country of reference of the examination of the application for international protection of applicants with a nationality remains their country of nationality, even if they have stronger bonds with a country of residence. 3.3.2. Criteria to determine a country of former ‘habitual’ residence This section presents some of the factors that may be considered in assessing whether a country may be considered as a country of ‘habitual residence’ in the expression ‘country of former habitual residence’ for a stateless applicant. The following factors should be considered in combination with one another. This list of potentially relevant factors is not exhaustive as the assessment needs to be adapted to the individual case. For the country to be considered a country of former habitual residence, the combination of different factors should show that the individual applicant has achieved a relevant degree of settled and stable existence over time. The more criteria that are fulfilled, the more probable it is that the country at hand can be considered as a country of former habitual residence. Depending on national law and practice, an applicant may be considered as having several countries of former habitual residence (see more information, see Section 6.4.2. Multiple countries of former habitual residence). Table 2. Criteria to determine a country of former habitual residence Physical presence A country may only be considered as a country of former habitual residence if the applicant physically resided in that country. Country The concept of ‘country’ in the expression of country of former habitual residence is wider than the notion of ‘state’ and may include certain territories ( 63). (62) See also Article 2(d) and (f) QD (recast) for applicants to who those provisions apply. (63) See EUAA, Qualification for international protection – Judicial analysis, Second edition, January 2023, p. 41. 29