discretionary naturalisation after six years of residence subject to the other standard requirements for naturalisation.23 17. A new-born child of unknown parentage found on Austrian territory is regarded as a national by descent, until proven to the contrary. Austrian nationality may not be withdrawn from foundlings if this would lead to statelessness. There is an explicit age-limit of six months, meaning that the safeguard does not apply to all young children not yet able to communicate the identity of their parents or place of birth.24 18. Under the Austrian Nationality Act, a child national adopted by foreign parents does not lose their Austrian nationality before a new nationality is acquired. However, they do lose their Austrian nationality automatically if they acquire another one during the adoption through an explicit declaration of intent. A child under the age of 14 residing in Austria and adopted by Austrian national parents is entitled to apply for nationality subject to certain conditions. Nationality will be granted within six weeks of the application and the residence requirement may be waived if the adoptive parents' centre of interest and continuous lawful residence have been abroad for more than 12 months.25 19. There are facilitated naturalisation procedures for people born stateless in Austria (subject to the conditions referred to in para. 16) but there is no facilitated procedure for stateless people (including children) who were not born in Austria.26 Like other foreign nationals, stateless people may qualify for discretionary naturalisation after ten years of legal residence, or, at the earliest six years if additional integration requirements can be met. In addition to residence, applicants must have a regular income, must not be dependent on social assistance (with some exceptions e.g. disability), must not have a criminal record, must have ‘a positive attitude towards the Republic of Austria’, pass a citizenship test, and pay a fee of approximately 1200-2500 EUR (reduced for minors) depending on the province and grounds for naturalisation). There are no fee waivers or exemptions for stateless people, except for the possibility to be exempt from providing documents that are normally required for naturalisation but are not available to them, such as passports and birth certificates.27 ISSUE 1 – Children’s Right to a Nationality 20. Every child has a right to a legal identity and nationality. This is a core principle of international law, which if applied in a comprehensive and non-discriminatory manner, would result in the prevention and reduction of statelessness.28 There are several gaps in the prevention and reduction of statelessness in Austrian law and practice. 21. Children born stateless in Austria must meet requirements that go beyond the 1961 Convention before acquiring Austrian nationality. Nationality is not granted automatically and may only be applied for by children born stateless in Austria, who have lived lawfully in Austria for at least ten 23 Article 11a(4)(3) Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz 1985, BGBl No. 311/1985 as amended by BGBl I No. 61/2018 (DE), Unofficial English translation (amended version as of BGBl I No. 56/2018) 24 Article 8 Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz 1985, BGBl No. 311/1985 as amended by BGBl I No. 61/2018 (DE), Unofficial English translation (amended version as of BGBl I No. 56/2018) 25 Articles 27 and 28 Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz 1985, BGBl No. 311/1985 as amended by BGBl I No. 61/2018 (DE), Unofficial English translation (amended version as of BGBl I No. 56/2018); Article 11b Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz 1985, BGBl No. 311/1985 as amended by BGBl I No. 61/2018 (DE), Unofficial English translation (amended version as of BGBl I No. 56/2018) 26 Articles 8, 10-11, 11a(4)(3) and 19(8)(3) Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz 1985, BGBl No. 311/1985 as amended by BGBl I No. 61/2018 (DE), Unofficial English translation (amended version as of BGBl I No. 56/2018) 27 ENS Statelessness Index Austria, Country Survey 2019, SDS15a, available here: https://index.statelessness.eu/sites/default/files/Index%20Survey%202019%20-%20Austria.pdf 28 See Article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, read in conjunction with Articles 2 and 3. 5