often delayed, leaving individuals undocumented.36 Moreover, there have been cases of people recognised as stateless waiting more than a year for a travel document. 25. A temporary residence permit is only accessible to stateless people if they can meet the general conditions as set out in the Law of Foreigners, which are stringent and include requirements on income, accommodation, health insurance, identity documents, and not being subject to an entry ban or criminal convictions carrying more than a six-month prison sentence. 37 The person must also present evidence that they have resided in Montenegro for at least three consecutive years prior to the SDP application and that they intend to continue their stay in Montenegro.38 These requirements are likely to be impossible to meet for stateless persons, due to the nature of their statelessness. In addition, a temporary residence permit may be revoked on certain grounds, including if the person stays outside Montenegro for more than 30 days. This decision can be appealed to the central office of the Ministry of Interior. 26. The right to work, education and healthcare is not guaranteed to all stateless people and depends on the type of residence permit issued. Those who hold a temporary residence permit can work if they also hold a work permit or work registration certificate, but the right to work for those who only hold a travel document is unclear. Children until the age of 15 can access education but they will not be granted a school certificate if they do not hold a birth certificate. Stateless people with a residence permit have access to higher education, social security, health insurance, and emergency healthcare, although they may encounter bureaucratic difficulties and be required to pay for some medical care. 27. As seen above, it is very welcome that Montenegro introduced a dedicated SDP that facilitates the identification of stateless people and access to the protection they are entitled to under international law. There are, however, shortcomings both in the procedure and in the range of rights that are afforded to people recognised as stateless. UNHCR has made specific recommendations to amend the Law on Foreigners in Montenegro to improve access to the SDP, enhance the procedural guarantees afforded to applicants, and to ensure that applicants are protected pending a decision on their application, including having a right to reside and access to identity documents, healthcare, education, work, legal advice and legal aid. UNHCR also made recommendations to change the law so that persons recognised as stateless have an automatic right to reside, certain economic and social rights, free legal aid, travel documents and a facilitated route to naturalisation.39 Issue 2 – Children’s right to birth registration and to a nationality 28. Every child has the right to a nationality and to be registered immediately after birth.40 36 Law on Foreigners, Official Gazette of Montenegro, no. 012/18 and 003/19, article no. 59, point 7, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain/opendocpdf.pdf?reldoc=y&docid=60a4edb84. 37 Law on Foreigners, Official Gazette of Montenegro, no. 012/18 and 003/19, article no. 43, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain/opendocpdf.pdf?reldoc=y&docid=60a4edb84. 38 Law on Foreigners, Official Gazette of Montenegro, no. 012/18 and 003/19, article no. 60, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain/opendocpdf.pdf?reldoc=y&docid=60a4edb84. 39 UNHCR, UNHCR Observations on the Amendments to the Law on Foreigners of Montenegro: Statelessness Determination Procedure, 10 February 2022, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/6229fa0a4.html. 40 UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 1961, Articles 1 and 4; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, Article 24(2); Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, Articles 3 and 7; UNHCR, Global Action Plan to End Statelessness 2014-24 (2014): Action 7; UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.9. 7