USSR citizens who resides in Kyrgyzstan and previously had not established their nationality. Such provisions in the 2007 Citizenship Law represent good legislative practice and lead to the reduction of statelessness. 1.6 Definition of a stateless person Both the 2007 Citizenship Law (Article 3) and the 2000 External Migration Law (Article 1) provide identical definitions of a stateless person within the national context and read as follows: “a person who is not a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic and does not have any proof of affiliation to the nationality of any other foreign state”. In other words, according to the definition all that is required from an individual is the absence of evidence of legal affiliation with a state. Therefore, status determination is not based on the evidence of lack of nationality but rather on the lack of evidence of possessing a nationality in order to be recognized as a stateless person in Kyrgyzstan. Thus, one does not have to legally prove that no state considers them as a national, but instead the burden of proof of whether a person is stateless or not, is placed on the authority which has the power to recognize a person as stateless under the law. Although the wording of this definition is different from that contained in international law, it is in general compliance with its international twin. Article 1 of the 1954 Convention defines a stateless person as any person who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law. The 1954 Convention’s definition sets the test at being free from having any legal bond to any state. The Convention’s definition refers to a possession or lack thereof of a nationality by operation of law of any other state, i.e. no law should recognize them as its citizen; whereas the domestic Kyrgyz definition does not have such a reference. In practice, however, to satisfy both definitions action must be taken to provide evidence of statelessness based on the law, whether submitted by a person claiming a stateless situation or sought by public authorities involved in the identification of status. Nevertheless, the broader definition in domestic law leaves authorities with a wider margin of discretion. For example, passport authorities in Osh province, referred to a number of cases where they sought confirmation of citizenship from the authorities of neighbouring countries for individuals whose national passports had expired. If there was no response to an enquiry, they deemed it as lack of evidence of nationality, and therefore proceeded with an application for naturalization. This practice serves to grant legal status to those who otherwise maybe in limbo indefinitely with undetermined nationality. On the other hand, the practice may in some cases cause a person to be found stateless before all reasonable means have been exhausted to determine their nationality. 1.7 National administrative framework In the Kyrgyz Republic, internal affairs bodies have been vested with the authority to control migration and regulate nationality issues. The Regulation on the Manner of Examination of Issues concerning the Nationality of the Kyrgyz Republic (the “2007 Citizenship Regulations”) as approved by Presidential Edict No 473 of 25 October 2007 creating the Conflict Commissions at the Department of Passport and Visa Control of the Ministry of Interior, as well as provincial Divisions of Internal Affairs including in the cities of Bishkek and Osh (para. 29). The Conflict Commissions have right for examination of applications by people who would like to establish whether they belong to the body of Kyrgyz citizens or not according Small Changes ‫ ـ‬Big Gains: An Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic 58