declare their place of residence in the Republic of Lithuania or register changes in their civil status with institutions of the Republic of Lithuania.70 Although one might imagine that data about stateless persons who do not hold a residence permit could be included in the Register (e.g., if they register the birth of a child) if it is not supported by documents issued in Lithuania,71 the Director of the Residents’ Register has confirmed that habitual residents without a valid residence permit cannot be captured by the Register.72 All stateless persons who have a residence permit in Lithuania must declare their place of residence if they have moved to Lithuania, have changed their address or have left Lithuania for longer than six months.73 “Place of residence” is defined as “the main place where the person usually factually lives and with which he is most connected.”74 Persons who do not have such a place of residence, for example because they are homeless, are still included in the records by registering the municipality in which they live.75 Such persons must provide data, supported by documentary evidence, on their personal identification number or date of birth, name(s), surname, previous surname, and citizenship, along with an identification document.76 The definition of “statelessness” is not provided by the Statistics Department. “Citizenship” is defined as a particular legal relationship between a person and a State, “which is acquired at birth or by naturalization, irrespective of whether it was granted upon submission of an application, by choice, marriage, or using other tools set by national law”.77 Of the five groups of the stateless population in Lithuania, as described above, the Statistics Department’s data on stateless persons includes permanent stateless residents and lawful stateless migrants who are factually living in Lithuania and have declared Lithuania as their place of residence. Although the Law on Declaration of Place of Residence requires the inclusion of persons who do not have a residence permit in the Residents’ Register, the obligation to present an identification document as well as other supporting documentary evidence potentially excludes many or all persons with “unresolved” legal status, as well as “unreturnable” persons. Stateless asylum-seekers are not included in the number.78 The Migration Department publishes annual statistics of aliens living in Lithuania disaggregated by citizenship. According to the Migration Department, there were 4,453 stateless persons living in Lithuania with a residence permit in 2011.79 The number dropped slightly to 4,314 persons at the beginning of 201280, to 4,151 persons as of 1 August 2012.81 According to the latest statistics released by the Migration Department, the stateless population totaled 4,130 persons.82 This number comprises persons who hold one of the four types of residence permits issued by the Government of Lithuania: permanent residence permit (Lietuvos Respublikos ilgalaikio gyventojo leidimas gyventi Europos Sąjungoje); temporary residence permit (leidimas laikinai gyventi Lietuvos Respublikoje); permanent residence card for a family member of an EU-citizen (Europos Sąjungos valstybės narės piliečio šeimos nario leidimo nuolat gyventi Lietuvos Respublikoje kortelė); and the temporary residence card for a family member of an EU citizen (Europos Sąjungos valstybės narės piliečio šeimos nario leidimo laikinai gyventi Lietuvos Respublikoje kortelė). Importantly, therefore, the number includes 70 Ibid, Article 5(2). 71 Ibid, Article 9(2). 72 Electronic correspondence with Marija Norkevičienė, Director of the Residents’ Register, 25 January 2013. 73 Republic of Lithuania, Law on the Declaration of the Place of Residence, 2 July 1998, VIII-840. Amended on 20 June 2015 No. XII-1919, Articles 5 (1) (3) and 7 (1). 74 Ibid, Article 2 (2). 75 Ibid, Article 6. 76 Ibid, Article 6 (3). 77 Lithuania, Statistics Department, Statistical Yearbook of Lithuania 2011, Vilnius, 2011, p. 33. 78 Electronic correspondence with Marija Norkevičienė, Director of the Residents’ Register, 25 January 2013. 79 Lithuania, Migration Department of the Ministry of Interior, Migration Yearbook 2011, Vilnius, 2012, p. 11. 80 Ibid. 81 Data was provided by the Migration Department during the interview with the researcher on 7 August 2012. 82 Lithuania, Migration Department of the Ministry of Interior, Migration Yearbook 2012, Vilnius, 2013, p. 10. U N H C R S TO C K H O L M , M AY 2 0 1 6 23