THEMATIC BRIEFING: October 2025
Statelessness determination and protection in Europe: good practice, challenges and risks
3. Provide specialised training on statelessness and nationality rights and ensure cooperation
between relevant public authorities:
•
Ensure that relevant competent authorities have the necessary expertise, guidance, and
resources to effectively identify and assess statelessness and nationality issues.
•
Facilitate and evaluate regular training on statelessness and nationality rights for public
authorities and others who may encounter stateless people, including government bodies,
lawyers, and the judiciary.
•
Facilitate cooperation between public authorities who may encounter stateless people and
introduce cross-referral mechanisms between asylum, detention, and statelessness
determination procedures.
4. Ensure that stateless migrants and refugees have an accessible route to naturalisation to
resolve their statelessness:
•
Expedite naturalisation procedures for stateless people, providing preferential treatment
compared to the general rules for foreign nationals.
•
Exempt stateless people from requirements such as citizenship or integration tests,
language testing, application fees, or minimum income or documentation requirements,
particularly those they cannot meet due to the nature of their statelessness.
•
Ensure that previous criminal convictions or 'good character' requirements do not
unreasonably prevent stateless people from acquiring a nationality.
31