Key recommendations The UK should implement an accessible procedure to identify stateless persons on its territory. 1 The most effective way to ensure the UK meets its international obligations to stateless persons under the 1954 Convention and in human rights law is through the adoption of an accessible and efficient statelessness determination procedure that identifies stateless persons on UK territory as quickly as possible. Where such a procedure establishes that an individual does in fact possess a nationality permitting return, this could help facilitate the operation of immigration control. Likewise, such a procedure could identify a nationality to which a stateless person may be entitled, or a state where a stateless person may be entitled to return and reside, and where their human rights will be respected. 2 The UK should review its approach to the identification of stateless persons, and adopt a position in accordance with forthcoming UNHCR Guidelines on the definition of “stateless person” in international law. Currently, in both immigration and nationality law, the burden of proof is placed on the individual to substantiate any claim that he or she is stateless, rather than being shared between the State and the individual. This research found that many applicants were frustrated in their efforts to obtain proof from foreign authorities or consular authorities in the UK, which regularly refused to respond to enquiries or to formally provide notification that an individual was not considered one of their nationals. The qualitative research found that, even when such confirmation was provided, the UK Border Agency would sometimes continue to attribute that nationality to the individual. UK Border Agency guidelines and the decisions of the courts alike provide some guidance on whether a foreign State considers an individual to be a national under the operation of its law. Neither, however, fully corresponds to the conclusions of expert meetings convened in 2010 and 2011 to help develop UNHCR Guidelines. The UK’s approach to this issue should be reviewed in the light of the forthcoming Guidelines. The UK should grant leave to remain to stateless persons in appropriate circumstances. 3 In the past, stateless persons without leave to remain were, in defined circumstances, granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK. This was the first step by which they could acquire a nationality and end their statelessness. The research has shown that a return to a policy granting leave to remain to stateless persons in appropriate circumstances would also ensure respect for stateless persons’ rights under the 1954 Convention and international human rights law. Such an approach is reflected in current practice among those States that have in the United Kingdom 9