137.
The “lawfully staying” requirement envisages a greater duration of
presence in a territory. This need not, however, take the form of permanent
residence. Shorter periods of stay authorised by the State may suffice so
long as they are not transient visits. Stateless persons who have been
granted a residence permit would fall within this category.84 It also covers
individuals who have temporary permission to stay if this is for more than
a few months. By contrast, a visitor admitted for a brief period would
not be “lawfully staying”. Individuals recognised as stateless following
a determination procedure but to whom no residence permit has been
issued will generally be “lawfully staying” in a State party by virtue of the
length of time already spent in the country awaiting a determination.
138.
A final set of rights foreseen by the 1954 Convention are those to be
accorded to stateless persons who are “habitually resident” or “residing”
in a State party. The rights accruing to those who are “habitually resident”
are protection of artistic rights and intellectual property (Article 14) and
rights pertaining to access to Courts, including legal assistance and
assistance in posting bond or paying security for legal costs (Article 16(2)).
139.
The condition that a stateless person be “habitually resident” or “residing”
indicates that the person resides in a State party on an on-going and
stable basis. “Habitual residence” is to be understood as stable, factual
residence. This covers those stateless persons who have been granted
permanent residence, and also applies to individuals without a residence
permit who are settled in a country, having been there for a number of
years, who have an expectation of on-going residence there.
83
Since 1 April 2010, all travel documents issued by States, including travel documents
for stateless persons pursuant to the 1954 Convention must be machine readable in
accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization (“ICAO”) standards. Please see
ICAO, Annex 9 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Facilitation, July 2005 and
ICAO-UNHCR, Guide for Issuing Machine Readable Travel Documents for Refugees and
Stateless Persons, October 2012, http://www.refworld.org/docid/52b166a34.html
84
The concept of “stay” has been interpreted in the context of the 1951 Convention and is
applicable to interpreting the 1954 Convention as follows: “‘stay’ means something less than
durable residence, although clearly more than a transit stop”. Please see paragraph 23,
UNHCR, “Lawfully Staying” – A Note on Interpretation, above note 80.
136 - 139
The 1954 Convention grants another set of rights to stateless persons who
are “lawfully staying” in a State party (in French “résidant régulièrement”).
The “lawfully staying” rights in the 1954 Convention include the right
of association (Article 15), right to work (Article 17), practice of liberal
professions (Article 19), access to public housing (Article 21), right to public
relief (Article 23), labour and social security rights (Article 24), and travel
documents (Article 28).83
PART THREE
136.
49