THEMATIC BRIEFING | SEPTEMBER 2021 Statelessness determination and protection in Europe 25 language testing, application fees, or minimum income requirements. Previous criminal convictions or ‘good character’ requirements should also not unreasonably prevent stateless people from acquiring nationality.75 No countries in the Statelessness Index with an SDP are assessed positively in this area. Stateless people face significant barriers to naturalisation in all countries. In the United Kingdom, naturalisation fees are prohibitively high with each adult application costing the equivalent of over 1500 EUR. Additionally, there is a discretionary ‘good character’ requirement as well as citizenship and language tests, with no exemptions on grounds of statelessness. In Hungary, naturalisation is facilitated for stateless people with ‘domiciled’ residence, but this can only be requested after a minimum of three years residence and then only if discretionary permanent residence is granted by the Government if considered to be ‘in the national interest’. In practice, the procedure is extremely lengthy, discretionary, and non-transparent. Residence requirements for naturalisation vary significantly between countries, from ten years in Spain, to eight in Moldova, five in France, Italy, Latvia, and Ukraine,76 and three in Bulgaria, although in some cases only permanent residence counts towards the qualifying period, so it may be longer in practice. Many countries also impose discretionary ‘good character’ requirements and stateless people are very rarely exempted from language, citizenship, or integration tests. In some countries, such as France and the United Kingdom, stateless people benefit from a reduced residence requirement in line with refugees, but in others there are no favourable provisions for stateless people even where there are for other groups, such as in Spain. BARRIER Barriers to naturalisation for stateless people in Spain The process to apply for naturalisation in Spain can be lengthy (up to three years in some cases) and costly. To be eligible to apply, stateless people must meet the general residence requirement of ten years’ continuous legal residence unless they fall within any of the groups eligible for a reduction in the residence requirements. Reductions are provided for refugees (five years) and people with historic links to Spain (two years), for example, nationals of Latin American countries, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Andorra, Portugal, and Sephardic Jews. Naturalisation can be refused for reasons relating to public order or national interest and the applicant must justify ‘good civic conduct’ and a sufficient level of integration into Spanish society. An integration exam and language test are required, and fees include approximately 85 EUR for the integration exam, 137 EUR for the language text, and 103 EUR for the application itself.77 3.3 Trends in countries without a statelessness determination procedure 17 of the 27 countries in the Statelessness Index do not have a SDP leading to a statelessness status.78 15 of these countries have acceded to the 1954 Convention (in some cases many years ago) but have not yet fulfilled their obligations to introduce