nationals maintain an effective connection to it.37 The notion of what constitutes an effective connection to a State has changed since the drafting of the 1961 Convention. Society has evolved such that people are much more mobile, and it is no longer unusual for a person to habitually reside in a country other than their country of citizenship. Contracting States are encouraged to take these developments into account when applying Article 8(2). The obligation all States have to balance their interests with those of the individual38 significantly narrows the circumstances in which loss of nationality resulting in statelessness is permissible under Article 7(4). This is because the consequences of statelessness for the individual are extremely severe compared with the consequences to a State if its nationals abroad do not declare or register their intention to preserve their connection to the State. Birth outside the territory of a Contracting State and failure to register less than one year after reaching the age of majority (Article 7(5)) Article 7(5) of the 1961 Convention is the second narrowly defined exception to the general prohibition of loss of nationality where it would render the person concerned stateless (under Articles 7(3) and 7(6)). It provides that “[i]n the case of a national of a Contracting State, born outside its territory, the law of that State may make the retention of nationality after the expiry of one year from his attaining his majority conditional upon residence at that time in the territory of the State or registration with the appropriate authority.” The fact that Article 7(5) applies to nationals of a Contracting State who are born outside that Contracting State necessarily implies that it applies to persons who acquired the nationality of the Contracting State through their parent(s).39 It must be prescribed by the domestic law of the Contracting State that the retention of the person’s nationality “after the expiry of one year from his attaining his majority is conditional upon residence at that time in the territory of the State or registration with the appropriate authority.”40 Registration with the appropriate authority should include any administrative action pertaining to the renewal or 37 UN Conference on the Elimination or Reduction of Future Statelessness, Summary Records, 11th meeting of the Committee of the Whole, 24 April 1961, A/CONF.9/C.1/SR.11, pp. 2-4. UN Conference on the Elimination or Reduction of Future Statelessness, Summary Records, 16th meeting of the Committee of the Whole, 24 April 1961, A/CONF.9/C.1/SR.16, pp. 2-3. 38 See paragraph 11 above. 39 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, 30 June 2014, https://www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4.html (UNHCR Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons 2014), para. 35: “Where nationality is acquired automatically, documents are typically not issued by the State as part of the mechanism. In such cases, it is generally birth registration that provides proof of place of birth and parentage and thereby provides evidence of acquisition of nationality, either by jus soli or jus sanguinis, rather than being the formal basis for the acquisition of nationality.”; footnote 24: “Jus soli and jus sanguinis refer to the two main principles governing acquisition of nationality in the legal systems of States, on the basis of place of birth and descent from a national, respectively.” 40 1961 Convention, Article 7(5). UNHCR > GUIDELINES ON STATELESSNESS NO.5 13