PRACTICAL GUIDE ON NATIONALITY About the guide Why was this guide created? The mission of the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) is to facilitate and support the activities of Member States of the European Union and the Schengen associated countries (EU+ countries ( 1)) in the implementation of the Common European Asylum System. According to its overall aim to promote a correct and effective implementation of the Common European Asylum System and to enable convergence, the EUAA develops common operational standards and indicators, guidelines and practical tools. How was this guide developed? This guide was created by experts from across the European Union (EU), with valuable input from the European Commission, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, the European Network on Statelessness and Dr Hugo Storey ( 2). Thanks are expressed to the members of the working group who contributed to the drafting of this guide: Ms Victoria Brännmark, Mr Maxime Lismonde and Ms Marthe Rudlang. The development was facilitated and coordinated by the EUAA. Before its finalisation, a consultation on the guide was carried out with all EU+ countries through the EUAA Asylum Processes Network. The guide was adopted by the EUAA Management Board in March 2025. Who should use this guide? This guide is primarily intended for asylum case officers, interviewers and decision-makers as well as legal advisers in the national determining authorities and registration officers. Additionally, this tool is useful for quality officers and policymakers and may also benefit reception and detention officers, return officers, and legal counsellors. How to use this guide. The scope of this guide is to support the reader with the understanding of the concepts of nationality and statelessness and their implications for the assessment of the application for international protection. The verification of nationality is covered in a limited way. The guide mainly covers aspects of the examination of inclusion. Some aspects of cessation and exclusion are mentioned in a limited way and only to the extent that they relate to nationality directly. Other aspects of exclusion (such as the application of Article 1D of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (3) to persons who would be subject to it) are not covered in this guide. (1) (2) (3) The 27 EU Member States and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Note that the finalised guide does not necessarily reflect the positions of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, the European Network on Statelessness and Dr Hugo Storey. United Nations General Assembly, Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, Geneva, 28 July 1951, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 189, p. 137 and the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, 31 January 1967, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 606, p. 267 (referred to in EU asylum legislation and by the Court of Justice of the European Union as ‘the Geneva Convention’). 3