European Migration Network (EMN) in inform “Statelessness in the European Union, Norway and Georgia” it is possible to become familiar with national policies and allows a better understanding of the determination of statelessness, the impact on affected persons, especially in relation to work, education, health care and social assistance, national best practices and challenges.
Some key findings:
- There is no harmonisation among EU Member States on the procedures they use to determine statelessness.
- The majority of EU Member States make no direct link between the determination of statelessness and the issuing of a specific residence permit.
- Access to the labour market, education and training, healthcare and social aid does not depend on the determination of statelessness but on the residence permit the stateless person can obtain. This can place stateless persons unable to obtain a residence permit in a legal vacuum in certain EU Member States.
In Latvia, statelessness is determined within the framework of a dedicated determination procedure available to all stateless persons, irrespective of whether or not they are residing legally in the country. The procedure is free of charge. The applicant must file a written application and submit their personal identification document, birth certificate, and a certificate issued by a foreign competent authority that the person is not a citizen of the relevant State, or a document proving that they cannot obtain this document and any other relevant document. After filing the application, the applicant is allowed to stay in the country
In Latvia, the parent who registers a newborn is required to have lawful residence in Latvia. The newborn child can be registered as a citizen of Latvia simultaneously with registration of the fact of birth (based on the request of one parent). The child shall have lawful residence in Latvia if they were registered as a stateless person and afterwards claimed citizenship. If the child was registered as stateless (parents did not claim citizenship when the birth of the child was registered) and they claim citizenship after the birth was registered, there is a requirement that the parent has been resident for at least five years before the birth.