BREAKING THE PRESUMPTION THAT APPLICANTS OF STATELESSNESS DETERMINATION PROCEDURES ARE FOREIGN PAOLA PELLETIER QUIÑONES * This article considers the situation of those who apply for a determination of their status as a stateless person but could, nonetheless, be nationals of the state in which they apply. Cases of in situ statelessness provide the greatest opportunity for the identification of these situations. After having identified 23 formal Statelessness Determination Procedures (‘SDP’) adopted as of 2020 from 23 countries, it is conclusive that these norms presume the applicant is foreign. However, eight countries have been identified that have safeguards in their SDP norms recognising the possibility that there could be identified applicants who may be nationals and containing procedures to follow in cases of doubt. These safeguards are adopted by four countries in the Americas (Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay and Argentina) and four countries in Europe (Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Turkey). These constitute good practices that should be taken into consideration by further SDP norms adopted in the future, modifications of current SDP norms and statistics. This issue constitutes a ‘red flag’ for raising awareness of discriminatory state policies that assume stateless applicants are foreign and should receive second-class citizenship (naturalisation), rather than refer the case to the corresponding national civil registry authorities and facilitate access to nationality. The issues raised in this article have not previously been analysed in doctrine or by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. TABLE OF CONTENTS I II III IV V VI * Introduction............................................................................................................. 60 Identifying the SDP Normative Framework as of 2020 ......................................... 63 The Concept of Statelessness Applicable to SDP ................................................... 65 Could SDP Be Applicable to In Situ Stateless? ...................................................... 69 Stateless People Presumed Foreign through SDP Norms. ...................................... 74 What If the Applicant Could Be a National of the Country in Which They Have Applied for a Determination of Their Stateless Status? .......................................... 76 Costa Rica: Executive Decree No 39620 of 2016 ‘Regulations for the Declaration of the Status of Stateless Persons’ (‘Decree No 39620’) ....... 77 Paraguay: Law No 6.149 ‘Protection and Assistance to Enable Naturalisation for Stateless Persons’ (‘Law No 6.149’) ............................ 78 Panama: Executive Decree No 10 of 16 January 2019 (‘Executive Decree No 10’) ........................................................................................................ 79 Argentina: Law No 27.512 ‘Recognition and Protection of Statelessness Persons’ (‘Law No 27.512’) ....................................................................... 80 Master of Laws in International Legal Studies as Fulbright Fellow from American University, Washington College of Law, Washington, DC. Lawyer from Pontificia Universidad Catòlica Madre y Maestra (‘PUCMM’) (Summa Cum Laude), ex-litigation attorney, Human Rights activist, Law Professor at PUCMM for over 10 years in Dominican Republic of International Private Law and Fundamental Rights. Eight years with experience on Statelessness issues. Worked on protection in United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (‘UNHCR’) — Dominican Republic and international consultant on statelessness for UNHCR Regional Bureau of West and Central Africa. Ex-intern of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica, to which I have presented amicus briefs on statelessness. Member of Reconocido Movement (Stateless) and the Feminist Movement in the Dominican Republic. This article is dedicated to Juan Ignacio Mondelli and Hervé Kuate; from my perspective, for their great contributions on Statelessness Determination Procedures (‘SDP’) in the Americas and Africa, respectively, and my gratitude.