Convention to “ensure … that neither marriage to an alien nor change of nationality by the husband during marriage shall automatically change the nationality of the wife, render her stateless or force upon her the nationality of her husband.” Any provision for loss of nationality under the grounds in Article 6 of the 1961 Convention should not contravene States’ specific obligations under CEDAW. Given that loss of nationality under Article 6 of the 1961 Convention is conditional upon possession or acquisition of another nationality, the guidance in paragraphs 8083 below is particularly relevant to the application of Article 6. Exceptions to the general prohibition of loss of nationality resulting in statelessness Under Article 7(3) of the 1961 Convention, a person cannot lose their nationality “on the ground of departure, residence abroad, failure to register or on any similar ground” where it would result in their becoming stateless, except in circumstances exhaustively set out in Articles 7(4) and 7(5). This is underscored by Article 7(6) of the 1961 Convention, set out in paragraph 15 above. Both Articles 7(4) and 7(5) respectively make reference to declaration and registration with an “appropriate authority.” The appropriate authority depends on the internal organization of the Contracting State in question and in some cases there will be more than one appropriate authority involved. Loss of nationality on account of residence abroad for not less than seven consecutive years (Article 7(4)) Under Article 7(4) of the 1961 Convention, a person may in certain limited circumstances lose nationality such that they would become stateless. Article 7(4) provides that “[a] naturalized person may lose his nationality on account of residence abroad for a period, not less than seven consecutive years, specified by the law of the Contracting State concerned if he fails to declare to the appropriate authority his intention to retain his nationality.” As an exception to the general prohibition of loss of nationally resulting in statelessness, this provision should be applied restrictively. The first condition of Article 7(4) of the 1961 Convention is that the person concerned must be a naturalized person.31 This makes naturalized citizens more vulnerable to loss of nationality resulting in statelessness than citizens by birth. The increased vulnerability is mitigated by limitations contained in international human rights law, including with respect to non-discrimination as explained in paragraphs 110-112 below. Given that many naturalized citizens are likely to be from minority groups (for example, ethnic or religious minorities), Contracting States should exercise 31 Final Act of the 1961 Convention, 1975 UNTS 279, https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/3ae6b39620.pdf, Resolution III: “the term ‘naturalized person’ shall be interpreted as referring only to a person who has acquired nationality upon an application which the Contracting State concerned may in its discretion refuse.” UNHCR > GUIDELINES ON STATELESSNESS NO.5 11