among others, it is a condition which affect[s] approximately 15 million people worldwide, according to figures from the UN Agency for Refugees, UNHCR.285 The Constitutional Court’s recognition of the applicable international legal framework, the context in which statelessness occurs, and the relevance of the right to citizenship in the enjoyment of other rights provides the authority to hold the state accountable for effectively complying with the duties it owes to those born in its territory. Current Legal Framework Regarding Nationality The nationality legal regime of Colombia—unlike other countries in the region—combines both jus sanguinis and jus soli grounds for nationality at birth. This places great importance on both the element of domicile in the territory and the element of descent. Children born in the territory to Colombian parents, or to parents with proof of domicile, as well as those born abroad to Colombian parents, will be Colombians by birth. Article 96 of the Colombian Constitution,286 Law 43 of 1993,287 and an amendment enacted after the adoption of the 1991 Constitution, 288 establish Colombian nationality. In order to determine that a person born in the national territory is a Colombian “by birth” (por nacimiento), the child must be born to a Colombian parent or a parent proven to be domiciled in the Colombian territory. Proving domicile is thus the first challenge foreign parents face in seeking to secure their Colombian-born child’s Colombian nationality at birth. The nationality law states, “Domicile is the residence in Colombia accompanied by the intention to remain in the country in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Civil Code.” 289 Article 80 of the Civil Code, enacted in 1887, establishes the presumption of the intention to reside in the following terms: “The intention to reside and settle is presumed by the fact of opening a store, pharmacy, factory, workshop, inn, school or another durable establishment, to administer in person; by the fact to accept in said place a fixed employment of the type that is regularly conferred for a long time; and by other analogous circumstances.” Colombian courts have required a valid resident visa to establish domicile.290 Accordingly, the Office of the Civil Registry, which operates as an independent and autonomous governmental entity,291 follows the Ministry of Foreign Affairs292 in allowing nonresident visas, such as student refugee visas and temporary work visas, to demonstrate domicile for the purposes of birth registration.293 However, parents without such documentation cannot demonstrate domicile. Further, a combination of legislative provisions, judicial decisions, and administrative orders294 has established that children who cannot produce a Colombian birth certificate, a national identity card for children (which the state issues for nationals 68 COUNTRY PROFILES l COLOMBIA