Statelessness Working Paper Series 2017/04 from the exception under Article 10(2) BNC. They will therefore need to prove they initiated steps to see their child acquire the nationality of either of their countries of origin and that the granting was refused by the representative authorities in order for the child to be granted Belgian nationality. 5. Acquisition of a Nationality in Practice: Administrative Procedures and Obstacles 5.1. Acquisition of Syrian Nationality In order for a child entitled to Syrian nationality to be registered as a Syrian national, certain conditions apply. According to the Syrian Personal Status Law, the registration of the birth occurring abroad must be conducted under the jurisdiction of the foreign country, in this case Belgium. 62 Therefore, a precondition for obtaining Syrian nationality is the registration of the birth according to Belgian legislation. The birth registration procedure in Belgium is explained below in the section on acquisition of Belgian nationality. Following the registration of the birth at the municipality, the birth must be registered at the Syrian embassy or consulate. Due to their status, asylum seekers and recognized refugees are already prevented from doing so. No information is available from the Syrian Embassy in Belgium on birth registration. Information was retrieved from the website of the Syrian Embassy in Australia. However, it can be assumed that similar conditions apply regardless of which embassy the child is declared at abroad. Some of the information found is also corroborated by a document from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. To register the birth of the child, the following documents must be submitted: A proof that the parents’ marriage has been registered in Syria (family record, marriage statement, family document legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Syria); A copy of the original birth certificate translated to Arabic and legalised by the office of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the state (AU$ 9.00); filling out the Arabic birth certificate exclusively by the parents; the father’s passport; the child’s name in Arabic and the place and date of the father's civil record written on a separate paper; [...] the consular application form for both parents [completed] and [...] two personal photos (AU$ 9.00) [...].63 A fee (15$ in Australia) must also be paid for the registration of the birth.64 At least in Australia, fines also apply if the birth is not registered within a certain time limit. If the birth is registered later than 2 months and before the end of the first year. Between 1 year and 14 years following the birth, a higher fine must be paid (242$ in Australia) while after this period, the birth will only be registered by decision of a committee “in the concerned Syrian Governate”.65 The information provided by an official at the Syrian Embassy in Washington, DC to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada corroborates certain requirements, as it cites the following documents: the marriage certificate or a copy proving the marriage is officially registered in Syria, proof of Syrian citizenship of the father (such as passport or ID), the birth certificate, and the birth registration form (only available in Arabic). However, there were no time limit nor costs associated with birth registration at the time the information was collected by Canadian authorities.66 62 Z. Albarazi and L. van Waas,Statelessness and displacement, 2016, p. 23. The Syrian Honorary Consulate in Australia, birth registration, (2015), http://www.syrianembassy.org.au/en/services/consulate-services/115-birth-registration. 64 ibid. 65 ibid. 66 Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Current information on the procedures for registering babies of nationals living abroad and on whether the passports of both parents are required, [SYR23213.E], 28 February 1996, http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/196153/300116_en.html. 63 10