PRACTICAL GUIDE ON NATIONALITY territory. In this context, these groups may present themselves as ‘states’, grant socalled ‘citizenship’ and issue civil status documentation, such as birth certificates, identity and travel documents. However, as long as these entities do not fulfil the conditions to be considered a state at the time of the examination of the application for international protection, the applicant would still be a national of the (official) state. International recognition of such a territory can be indicative of the fact that the territory has achieved statehood. • 2.4. A state’s protective or administrative function is temporarily assumed by (international) organisations. In these situations, the residents are still nationals of the state in question ( 49). As detailed in Chapter 6, these organisations may however qualify as actors of protection under Article 7 QR ( 50) (see Section 6.1. National protection). Nationality does not require residence It is perfectly possible that a person holds a certain nationality but has never entered or resided in their country of nationality. They may have spent their whole life living abroad without ever acquiring another nationality. Since nationality is a question of law, it is irrelevant whether that person has ever resided in their country of nationality. The latter will remain the country of nationality. 2.5. Statelessness 2.5.1. Definition of statelessness in the context of international protection The APR defines a stateless person as ‘a person who is not considered to be a national by any State under the operation of its law’ ( 51). The notion ‘under the operation of its law’ should, in line with international customary law and the Stateless Persons Convention, be interpreted ‘broadly to encompass not just legislation, but also ministerial decrees, regulations, orders, judicial case law (in countries with a tradition of precedent) and, where appropriate, customary practice’ ( 52) as well as the way the law is implemented. (49) E. Fripp, Nationality and Statelessness in the International Law of Refugee Status, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2016, paragraph 5.21. (50) And also Article 7 QD (recast). (51) Article 3(15) APR. The same definition is present in Article 2(5) of the screening regulation and Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1351 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on asylum and migration management, amending Regulations (EU) 2021/1147 and (EU) 2021/1060 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 (OJ L, 2024/1351, 22.5.2024). This definition is identical to the one found in the UN General Assembly, Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 28 September 1954, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 360, p. 117 (the Stateless Persons Convention). It is generally accepted that the definition of statelessness laid down in the Stateless Persons Convention also applies to the definition of statelessness under the Refugee Convention. (52) UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, 2014, paragraph 22. 19