based on a parent’s (usually the mother’s) nationality (for example in Bulgaria, Italy, Montenegro, Serbia, and Türkiye). In some countries, the children of married and unmarried parents are treated differently, and fathers may need to take additional steps to prove paternity (for example, in Bulgaria, Germany, Malta and Slovenia). In Poland, the UK and Ukraine, nationality is not determined or recorded upon birth registration and may only be determined at the point of requesting a passport, meaning that any nationality problems may only emerge when a person is at the point of starting work, higher education or seeking to travel. Children remaining registered with ‘unknown nationality’ indefinitely The practice of children being recorded as having ‘unknown nationality’ at birth registration without any safeguards or clear procedures to ensure this is resolved as soon as possible can lead to violations of their right to acquire a nationality and a risk of statelessness. In Hungary, if no Hungarian nationality or statelessness can be proven at birth registration, the child is recorded as having ‘unknown nationality’ with no mandatory procedure in place to later determine the child’s nationality. While this situation is usually fast resolved after the child’s registration with the competent consular authority and the acquisition of a proof of a foreign nationality that is later entered on the child’s official documents, this practice is reported to leave the children of refugees, who cannot contact the consular authorities of their country of nationality, registered as of ‘unknown nationality’ for several years or even decades. In the Netherlands, there are no safeguards in place to ensure that a child does not remain registered with ‘undetermined nationality’ for long periods of time. In 2020, the Human Rights Committee found that the Netherlands had violated a child's rights by leaving him registered with 'nationality unknown', and requested it take immediate steps to remedy the case and avoid similar situations in the future. 44 In Belgium, nationality is recorded during registration in the National Registry, which is carried out by the municipality of the parents’ residence, but this is only possible if at least one parent has legal residence. If nationality cannot be determined, then the child will have undetermined nationality. If the child cannot be registered on the National Register, they will be undocumented and will have limited access to rights such as healthcare and schooling. It should be noted that registration in the National Register is not equivalent to legal residency. This means that some people may be registered in the National Register without enjoying legal residency and the rights that go with it. In Latvia, the child's nationality is recorded upon registration by the Registry Office. However, the procedure for determining a child’s nationality after birth is unclear and there is a risk that a child whose nationality status at birth is unclear may remain with undetermined nationality for a prolonged period. It is also unclear how the child’s nationality is determined in Moldova if the parents do not have residence status or the child’s entitlement to nationality cannot be proven with documentation. Children being registered with an assumed nationality In several countries, in the absence of clear guidance, civil registry officials may attribute the child a nationality based on that of their parents (usually the mother). In Italy, the child's nationality is recorded at the time of registration in the Municipal Population Registry and is automatically recorded based on the parents’ nationality. If this is unclear, civil registry officials tend to record a presumed nationality, such as that of the parents' country of origin. 45 In Croatia, if the child does not fulfil the conditions under the Citizenship Act, the nationality field is left blank, but if the nationality of the parents is known, then the child will be recorded as having the same nationality as the parents, with no legal framework to determine nationality at a later stage. In Bulgaria, there is no obligation for authorities to examine whether the child has actually acquired the nationality of the country that is recorded in the birth certificate. In most cases, the authorities automatically register the child with the same nationality as the mother. Some municipal authorities have adopted a practice of asking the parents to declare the nationality of the child and requiring a notarised declaration signed by both parents, but this is not based on law and practice is inconsistent. In some cases, the practice of attributing the child’s nationality based on that of their parents appears to have evolved through a lack of guidance, in others, officials are explicitly instructed to do this in law or guidance. In Bulgaria, Italy and Norway, there are procedures in place to later correct the child’s record, but such practices create a worrying risk that childhood statelessness may go unidentified where the laws of the mother’s country of nationality prevent her from conferring her nationality to her child born abroad due to gender discrimination.46